SYRIA, Coele-Syria. Damascus. Cleopatra VII. Year 280 (33/32 BC). Æ 20mm (7.02 gm). Diademed bust of Cleopatra right /
DE-MASKHNWN, Tyche seated left on rock, right arm extended and holding cornucopiae with left; grain ear before and river-god below; all within wreath. RPC I 4783. VF, brown and earthen patina. Very Rare. $975.
No ancient text tells us that Damascus was part of the territory that Mark Antony gave to Cleopatra, though her portrait on this city's coinage makes this almost certainly true. This unusual issue also has the distinction of being the first coinage struck at Damascus during this era of history. In the seven decades which followed, Damascus struck coins only on six other occasions. Late in the reign of Tiberius the city fell into the hands of the Nabataeans, who struck their own coins there until a new Roman coinage was inaugurated there late in the reign of Nero.
