214, Lot: 241. Estimate $100. Sold for $216. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

NABATAEA. Syllaeus and Aretas IV. 9-6 BC. Æ 1/2 Quadrans (11mm, 0.80 g, 12h). Petra mint. Struck circa 7-6 BC. Laureate head of Aretas right / Veiled female head right. Meshorer, Nabataea 121; Schmitt-Korte 51. VF, earthen black patina.

The joint rule of the ambitious Nabataean minister Syllaeus and his youthful and eventual successor Aretas IV produced a power struggle which lasted into their fourth year, corresponding to 6 BC. Coinage is thought to have been produced more neutrally at first, with the portrait of Obodas III, their predecessor, placed on many of the issues. Towards the end of the joint rule, this iconography was abandoned in favor of the portrait of Aretas himself, foreshadowing his eventual rise as the sole ruler and king of Nabataea. As this coin features the head of Aretas, it can most likely be dated to the later part of the joint rule.