Nomos AG
obolos 19 8 May 2021
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Uncertain ruler, Circa 230-early 250s. Tessera (Lead, 16x18 mm, 5.23 g). [...]-ANVS V-INAS[?] Laureate and draped (or draped and cuirassed) bust of an emperor, on the left facing right, and a draped bust of an empress, with a bun-like waved hairdo typical of the period from Domna to Salonina, on the right facing left. Rev. Blank as made. An unusual imperial tessera or weight. Brown patina. Fine.
The lack of a complete legend makes this tessera difficult to attribute with certainty. The portraits are clearly male and female, but just whose portraits they are is not clear. They could be later Severan, perhaps Severus Alexander and Julia Mamaea, but the format is quite typical of issues of Gordian III and Tranquillina, Philip I and Otacilia Severa, and Trajan Decius and Herennia Etruscilla. It is quite tempting to associate the ...ANVS... with GORDIANVS (or AEMILIANVS !), but it is surely wiser to reserve judgement!
The lack of a complete legend makes this tessera difficult to attribute with certainty. The portraits are clearly male and female, but just whose portraits they are is not clear. They could be later Severan, perhaps Severus Alexander and Julia Mamaea, but the format is quite typical of issues of Gordian III and Tranquillina, Philip I and Otacilia Severa, and Trajan Decius and Herennia Etruscilla. It is quite tempting to associate the ...ANVS... with GORDIANVS (or AEMILIANVS !), but it is surely wiser to reserve judgement!