Rare Instance of a Local Woman Signing Coinage

343, Lot: 336. Estimate $100. Sold for $425. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PHRYGIA, Laodicea ad Lycum. Pseudo-autonomous issue. temp. Titus, AD 79-81. Æ (21mm, 9.02 g, 7h). Signed by Claudia Zenonis. Draped bust of youthful Demos right, wearing tainia / Male figure, nude from the waist down, standing left, holding patera and palm frond; to left, staff with flag set in vase. RPC II 1277; BMC 87. VF, glossy dark brown patina, a few minor scratches.

Ex Lepczyk (1 April 1980), lot 1244.

A rare and interesting instance of a prominent local woman signing her city’s coinage. The appearance of Claudia’s name very likely stemmed from her belonging to the Zenonid family, one of the wealthiest and most powerful in Asia Minor. A relative, Julia Zenonis, also signed coins of Laodicea from the reign of Nero.

The male figure on the reverse, possibly an athlete, may refer to the building of a new stadium in AD 79/80 (RPC II p. 194).