206, Lot: 356. Estimate $100. Sold for $73. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SYRIA, Seleucis and Pieria. Balanea (as Leucas-Claudia). Pseudo-autonomous issue. Circa AD 50-100. Æ 15mm (3.11 g, 2h). KΛAYΔIЄ ωN, radiate male head right / KΛAYΔI ЄωN, draped female bust right, crescent on head. RPC I 4465 var. (obv and rev. legends); Lindgren & Kovacs 2180 var. (same). VF, dark green patina, earthen encustation.

From the J.S. Wagner Collection.

While seemingly depicting Selene and Helios, many have preferred to identify the figures as Agrippina and Claudius, who refounded the city sometime between AD 48 and 54. Interestingly, the specimen features the same legend on both obverse and reverse. Normally, the legend ‘KΛAYΔIЄωN’ or some variant is found only on the reverse, while the obverse carries the legend ‘ΛЄYKAΔIωN’.