Gordian III and Tranquillina AE 31mm of Singara, Mesopotamia.

ΑV Κ Π ΛΚ ΓΑΛΛΙΗΝ-ΟϹ, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust to right / ϹЄΛЄVΚЄΩ ΚΑ- around, ΛV[...]-ΔΝ in field to left, Athena standing to right, holding shield and striking with spear at serpent-legged giant, who hurls stone. RPC X Online Unassigned ID 60515. 9.54gr, 28mm, 6h.

Good Very Fine. Double struck of reverse.

Private collection, acquired 1980–1985.

The reverse type features Athena fighting the giant named Enceladus during the Gigantomachy, the war between the Giants and the gods. This scene appeared in art as early as the sixth century BC on an Attic black-figure pot, and is referenced in Euripides' Ion. Ancient poets located the burial spot of Enceladus under Mount Etna in Sicily, and the volcano's eruptions were said to be the breath of the giant, and the tremors caused by him rolling over under the mountain. (Virgil, Aeneid 3.570-587)

Struck AD 10-14. Head of Agrippa to left, wearing rostral crown combined with laureate crown, back to back with laureate head of Augustus to right; IMP above, DIVI • F below, P P across fields / Chained crocodile to right, palm frond upwards in centre, wreath to left of palm tip with long ties trailing to right; COL NEM across fields; two palm fronds below. RIC I 160; RPC I 525. 13.28gr, 26mm, 11h.

Near Extremely Fine. Dark green patina with earthen highlights.

Property of a North London, UK, gentleman.

This artistically fascinating and typologically unique coin refers directly to the victory of Octavian (as was) and Agrippa at Actium over the forces of Cleopatra VII and Marc Antony, and to the settlement of veterans in Nemausus. The crocodile, collared around the neck and chained to a palm on the reverse of this coin is a clear reference to the subjugation of Egypt, thus obliquely referring also to Antony and Cleopatra; the wreath above with ties fluttering in the breeze is a reminder that the war was both just and necessary, with the victory having brought about the deliverance and salvation of the Roman people and the state. It is noteworthy also that the portraits of Agrippa and Augustus on the obverse are presented on the same level and back to back, at once recalling the ancient Janiform types once so prevalent on the Roman coinage, and also presenting princeps and general as inseparable and heroic partners - the one adorned with a wreath of laurel, the other with a rostral wreath in recognition for his naval victories.

Struck AD 202. [ANT]ONINO AVGVS[TO], laureate head to right / COL HEL, turreted, veiled, and draped bust of Tyche to left; palm frond and cornucopia to right. Sawaya 270-279 (D51/R–; unrecorded rev. die); BMC 12; SNG Copenhagen 431. 8.64gr, 24mm, 12h.

Very Fine. Green and brown patina; cleaning and smoothing marks.

From the collection of a gentleman, acquired on the London art market in the 1990s.