Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XXVII 22-23 Mar 2023
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Judaea. Herodians. Agrippa I, with Herod of Chalcis and Claudius Æ 27mm. Caesarea Maritima, dated RY 8 of Agrippa I = 43 CE. BAC AΓPIΠΠAC [CEB KAICAP BAC HPΩΔHC] (King Agrippa, Augustus Caesar, King Herod), Claudius, togate, standing to left, sacrificing from patera, between Agrippa I and Herod of Chalcis, each crowning the emperor with a wreath; [LH] (date) in exergue / [OPKI]A BAC AΓPIΠΠA [Π CEΒ KAICAP AK CYNKΛHTON K] ΔHM PΩM ΦIΛI K CY MAXI [AYTOY] (A vow and treaty of friendship and alliance between the Great King Agrippa and Augustus Caesar, the Senate and the People of Rome) in two concentric circles divided by wreath; clasped right hands in centre; c/m: laureate(?) male head to left within oval incuse. RPC I 4982; TJC 124a (same dies as plated example); Burnett, Coinage 8; Hendin 1248; for c/m, GIC 156. 15.24g, 27mm, 12h.
Very Fine. Extremely Rare; of great historical importance.
Ex Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction XXII, 7 October 2021, lot 524.
This extremely rare coin commemorates the treaty wherein Claudius awarded the kingdoms of Judaea and Samaria to Agrippa, and Chalcis to Agrippa's brother Herod. The reverse legend is an excerpt of the treaty and appropriately encircles two clasped hands signifying the agreement, a long-established Roman numismatic motif dating back to the first century BC (see Crawford 450/2). That the agreement was rather favourable to Agrippa perhaps reflects his importance as a political force in the promotion of Claudius' succession (for an account of Agrippa's role, see Flavius Josephus, Antiquities, 19.236-45).
The obverse depicts three full-length portraits of the two client kings crowning the emperor Claudius with laurel wreaths, all of whom are identified by the obverse legend. Whilst it is tempting to imagine, there is no historical record of such a ceremony taking place during the treaty making in Rome in AD 41. Despite this, the crowning scene is highly intriguing in its novelty - there is no parallel in Roman coinage of an emperor being crowned by two client kings. The iconography has been discussed at length by Andreas Kropp, who rightly highlights that Roman artists would never have depicted such a scene implying the source of the emperor's power came from the hands of mere mortals, let alone a client king. As such, this coin appears to have been designed by artists at the Caesarea mint not for the glorification of the emperor but for emphasising Agrippa's own power as a kingmaker, rather than a mere vassal, and without fear of Roman authority (see Crowning the Emperor an unorthodox image of Claudius, Agrippa I and Herod of Chalkis, 2013).
Very Fine. Extremely Rare; of great historical importance.
Ex Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction XXII, 7 October 2021, lot 524.
This extremely rare coin commemorates the treaty wherein Claudius awarded the kingdoms of Judaea and Samaria to Agrippa, and Chalcis to Agrippa's brother Herod. The reverse legend is an excerpt of the treaty and appropriately encircles two clasped hands signifying the agreement, a long-established Roman numismatic motif dating back to the first century BC (see Crawford 450/2). That the agreement was rather favourable to Agrippa perhaps reflects his importance as a political force in the promotion of Claudius' succession (for an account of Agrippa's role, see Flavius Josephus, Antiquities, 19.236-45).
The obverse depicts three full-length portraits of the two client kings crowning the emperor Claudius with laurel wreaths, all of whom are identified by the obverse legend. Whilst it is tempting to imagine, there is no historical record of such a ceremony taking place during the treaty making in Rome in AD 41. Despite this, the crowning scene is highly intriguing in its novelty - there is no parallel in Roman coinage of an emperor being crowned by two client kings. The iconography has been discussed at length by Andreas Kropp, who rightly highlights that Roman artists would never have depicted such a scene implying the source of the emperor's power came from the hands of mere mortals, let alone a client king. As such, this coin appears to have been designed by artists at the Caesarea mint not for the glorification of the emperor but for emphasising Agrippa's own power as a kingmaker, rather than a mere vassal, and without fear of Roman authority (see Crowning the Emperor an unorthodox image of Claudius, Agrippa I and Herod of Chalkis, 2013).