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Æ19 - Marcus Aurelius ϹΥΡΙωΝ (all retrograde)
| Issuer | Syros (Achaea) |
|---|---|
| Year | 177-180 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Obverse description | Laureate and lightly bearded bust of Commodus, draped in paludamentum over cuirass, facing right and seen from the rear in three-quarter perspective. The portrait reflects provincial die-cutting conventions of the Aegean islands, with the legend disposed retrograde around the bust in the field. |
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| Obverse lettering | Λ ΑΥ ΚΟΜΟΔΟϹ (all retrograde) (Translation: Lucius Aurelius Commodus) |
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| Additional information |
Syros — the Aegean island best known in antiquity for its role in the Cycladic trade network — produced a modest civic bronze coinage under Roman imperial authority, and this piece belongs to a small, poorly documented group issued during the co-reign of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. The fully retrograde ethnic is not a die-cutter's error in any casual sense; retrograde legends appear with enough consistency on certain Syrian and island Greek bronzes to suggest either a deliberate local convention or a workshop tradition using mirror-cut dies without correction.
RPC IV.2 #4711 remains unparalleled in several major collections, with very few specimens recorded.