Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Æ24 - Antoninus Pius ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΑϹ
| Issuer | Chersonesus (Bosporus) (Northern Black Sea) |
|---|---|
| Year | 138-161 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | 24 mm |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Draped bust of the city goddess Chersonas facing right, wearing a turreted or wreathed crown; to the right in the field, a lyre above a branch. The legend ΧΕΡ appears to the right of the bust, identifying the issuing city. The portrait is rendered in the Greco-Roman provincial style characteristic of northern Black Sea coinage of the Antonine period. A beaded border frames the entire design. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΑϹ (Translation: free) |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Chersonesus maintained an unusual degree of autonomy within the Roman sphere — the city's proud tradition of self-governance, referenced explicitly in its coinage, was formally recognized and periodically renewed by successive emperors. The designation ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΑϹ, meaning "of the free [city]," was not decorative; it reflected a specific political status the Chersonesites actively lobbied Rome to preserve. Antoninus Pius confirmed these freedoms early in his reign, and local bronze issues of this period almost certainly commemorated that renewal of privilege.