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COINAGE PRODUCTION AND MONETARY

CIRCULATION IN ROMAN CYPRUS

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MICHEL AMANDRY

COINAGE PRODUCTION AND MONETARY

CIRCULATION lN ROMAN CYPRUS

BANK OF CYPRUS CULTURAL FOUNDATION

NICOSIA 1993

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@ 1993 MICHEL AMANDRY & BANK OF CYPRUS

CULTURAL FOUNDATION

ISBN 9963-42-042-7

The purpose of this paper is to provide a fairly accurate idea

of coinage production and monetary circulation in Cyprus during

the Roman period.

Before it became part of the Roman Empire in 30 BC,

Cyprus was a Ptolemaic possession and the island had produced,

on a large scale, a 'regal' Ptolemaic silver coinage, together with

issues of bronze coinage with a local character. The three principal

mints were Salamis, Paphos and Kition and the main period for

the production of silver coinage was the second century BC. The

mint of Kition closed at the end of the reign of Ptolemy X in

105/104 BC. Under Ptolemy XI Soter 11, the production of

Salamis and Paphos was very small, ending in 91190 BC.

From 58 to 47 BC, Cyprus was given the status of a

province and was governed as an additional pat1 of the province

of Cilicia. But, in 47 BC, it was turned over to Cleopatra VII

and her son Caesarian and the activity of the mint of Paphos was

then resumed: bronze coins were minted in the names of

Cleopatra and Ptolemy XV Caesarian (RPC 3901) (ill.l). The

House of Dionysos at Paphos produced an important material

from that period and the moulds for casting coins found in the

same House serve to confirm the localization of the mint at

Paphos (Nicolaou 1990). A previously unpublished coin, kept in

a private collection, might fit in this period. It is a small bronze

coin, the diameter of which is 18 mm and the weight 3,50g, and

it represents on the obverse an eagle to the right and on the

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reverse the temple of Aphrodite at Paphos, with its semicircular

courtyard and its conical xoanon (ill. 2).

After 30 BC, the nature of the coinage changed: from

'regal', it became provincial. Cyprus shared the fate of Egypt:

no colonies were established in the island, no cities were granted

either full civitas or limited privileges, and all were tax-paying.

The change in the nature of the coinage was also a step towards

the Romanisation of the monetary system in use on the island.

Under Augustus and his Julio-Claudian successors, there was an

apparent increase in local coining activity, but only bronze

coinage was minted.

Augustus and the Julio-Claudjans.

(i) Augustus.

Augustus' coinage may be divided into three groups, dated

26 BC and later, ea 21 BC and ea AD 1.

The first group consists in the Nike series. This coinage is

as following: IMP CAESAR DIVI F AVGVSTVS, bare head of

Augustus, right /COS OCTAVO DESIG IX, Nike on globe

holding wreath and palm, left (RPC 3904-3905) (il1.3). It is

clearly dated to 26 BC and the attribution to Cyprus is certain as

these coins occur frequently on the island (at Curium, or Paphos

[two coins in the House of Dionysos] e.g.). The reverse type

echoes the Victory type struck in Rome after Actium. To the

same group may belong some "branch issues" of the CA series.

This extensive coinage of brass and bronze coins was produced

ea 20 BC and circulated throughout Asia and was probably

minted at Ephesus. But some relatively small groups might be

attributed to Cyprus and Syria, in view of the evidence of style,

prov�nance and countermarks. The House of Dionysos at Paphos

produced seven specimens with the CA inscription and four with

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A VGVSTVS in a laurel wreath. Ino Nicolaou pointed out the

similarity of the portrait of Augustus on the Nike series and the

CA semisses. One word on the signification of CA which is

unclear: it may stand for Caesaris Auctoritate, Caesar Augustus

or Commune Asiae.

Cyprus had fell under the direct control of Octavian in 30

BC. But, in 22 BC, Augustus ceded the island to the Senate to

be governed by proconsuls of praetorian status. After 22 BC, the

proconsul A. Plautius, otherwise unknown, struck a group with

two different reverses, one with the temple of Aphrodite at Paphos,

the other with the statue of Zeus Salarninios (RPC 3906-3907).

The third group is later and it honours Augustus and Gaius

Caesar (RPC 3908-3913) (ill.4) and, I think, it was struck in

AD 1, when Gaius Caesar held his consulate. In AD l, Gaius

was travelling in the East, and the whole group, struck in his

honour, might be a testimony of his journey. Two other series

were produced together wth the Gaius group: comparison of

portraits, style, weight and fabric makes this virtually certain

(ill.5: IMP AVGVST TR POT/AVGVST in a laurel wreath

[RPC 3914]; ill.6: IMP AVGVST TR POT/SC in an oak wreath

[RPC 3915]). Provenances also favour this attribution, already

suggested in the 18th century by Joseph Pellerin: the House of

Dionysos produced two, or maybe three, coins of the second

type.

As we have seen, various denominations were struck and

may be identified with the following Roman bronze

denominations: dupondius, as, semis and quadrans. Probably

two mints were operating, a principal mint at Paphos and an

auxiliary mint at Salamis. Production was rather small, as less

than 30 obverse dies were cut during the entire reign of

Augustus (Amandry 1987/1).

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(ii) Tiberius.

Under Tiberius, two groups were struck. The first was struck after AD 15/16, as the reverse type of the larger denomination, probably a dupondius, represents a radiate head of Divus Augustus (RPC 3917-3918) which appears on the official coinage at Rome in AD 15/16. On the smaller denomination, probably an as, the reverse type - Livia seated with patera and sceptre (RPC 3919)- is also imitated from asses struck in AD 15116 (ill.7).

The second group has Drusus Minor on the obverse and Zeus Salaminios and the temple of Paphian Aphrodite on the reverse (RPC 3921-3926). It might have been struck in AD 22 when Paphos and Salamis were confirmed in the right of asylum long enjoyed by their temples. Another coin (RPC 3920) might be part of this group (ill.8): it is a coin of Tiberius, struck after AD 18, when the emperor received his eight imperatorial salutation. This coin was attributed by Hill to Pisidian Antioch and he expanded the letters C C to C(olonia) C(aesarea), as the form COL CAES occurs on coins struck there under Augustus. This attribution was questioned by A. Krzyzanowska who proposed to assign the coin somewhere in Africa! I have tentatively expanded the letters C C to C(ommune) C(ypri), but this is by no means certain and a local discovery of such a coin would certainly be welcome.

Production was again quite scanty as only about 20 obverse dies were cut under this reign (Amandry 1987 /IT).

(iii) ·claudius.

No coinage is known for Caligula. Under Claudius, the coinage is signed by the Koinon. The Claudian coins have on the obve_rse the emperor and his titles in Latin, on the reverse the name in Greek of the Koinon of Cyprus, which from now

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becomes the usual issuing authority for Cypriot coinage (RPC

3927-3931). Some coins include the name of the proconsul Proculus whose proconsulship is dated around AD 43/44 (RPC

3932-3933). Three denominations were struck, equivalent to the Roman sestertius, dupondius and as.

(iv) Galba.

No coinage is known for Nero. Galba struck at least two denominations: a sestertius recently published by I. Nicolaou (Nicolaou 1989), and dupondii with the two local reverse types (RPC 3934-3935). The countermark (Howgego 1985, n° 538) which appears on all the specimens known is illegible (ill.9: circular background delimited by two concentric circles).

From the reign of Vespasian to that of Severus Alexander, only four groups of coins can be linked to Cyprus. After Severus Alexander, the local coinage production came to an end.

(v) Vespasian.

A series of silver issues was produced dated to the years 8, 9 and 10 of his reign, that is from AD 7fo to 7l Tetradrachms / S I� with the head of Vespasian and didrachms wtth the heads of Titus and Domitian were minted. A brief issue of silver tetradrachms was also produced in the second year of Titus' reign, between September 79 and September 80. These coins are stylistically linked with earlier issues of silver coinage minted at Antioch and the mint, for some reason, was transferred to Cyprus. In AD 80, the mint was moved again to Antioch. This is probably due to the earthquake of AD 78, which can be dated to the end of the year due to the scarcity of the coins of V espasian dated year 10 and the absence of coins of Titus dated year 1. The production of coinage was probably interrupted from the end of 78 to September 79.

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The entire production of tetradrachrns was not very abundant, as B. Helly was able to identify 17 obverse dies out of a total of 114 specimens known to him (Helly 1980). This figure suggests that a mean of 6. 7 coins is known by die and that therefore almost all the production is known to us. Eight dies were used on year 8,

seven dies on year 9 and only two on year 10. Recent studies tend to show that a maximum of 20,000 coins could be struck with a pair of dies: so the total output of Cypriot tetradrachms might have consisted in 340,000 tetradrachms, that is 1.360,000

denarii (as the drachm is the equivalent of the denarius in the East), in other words about five time the property qualification for a senator or enough to pay one Roman legion for a year.

Bronze issues were also produced in the name of Vespasian and his two sons by the Koinon in year 8 and 9. The denominations seem to be in orichalcum and copper and appear to correspond with Roman sestertii and asses. Style and die-axis correspond to contemporary issues of Rome and Walker b�lieved that they had been minted in Rome and shipped to Cyprus (Walker 1978). Recent analyses have proved that they could not be distinguished from Roman coins (Carradice/Cowell 1987).

Therefore Rome is a possible source,_ or a Roman branch mint

in Cyprus.

No silver or bronze coinage was issued under Domitian's reign, but countermarks with the portrait of the emperor (Howgego 1985, n° 108; Nicolaou 1989) are known. A

rectangular countermark with six letters on two lines published by Nicolaou dates probably also from his reign (Nicolaou 1989).

The letters were read as IDC/GCP and interpreted as l(mperator) D(omitianus) C(aesar)/G(ermanicus) C(ensor) P(erpetuus). None of the five countermarks known to Nicolaou was completely legible and it seems that the true legend of the second line is CXP, according to a specimen recently acquired by the Coin

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ill. 1

ill. 2

ill. 3

ill. 4

_,

ill. 5

ill. 6

ill. 11

ill. 7

ill. 8 ill. 12

ill. 9

ill. 13

ill. 10 ill. 14

/

ill. 15

ill. 16

ill. 17

..

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Cabinet in Paris (ill.l 0). Therefore, this line could be interpreted as C(os) X P(robavit) and the countermark dated to AD 84.

The use of Latin makes it likely that the countermarks were applied under the authority of the Roman provincial administration.

(vi) Trajan.

The next group was struck under Trajan between AD 112

and 1 17. The bronzes have designs which prove they were intended to circulate in Cyprus, but they have a distinct imperial character. They consist of orichalcum sestertii and dupondii (ill.11) and copper asses, and recent analyses (Carradice/Cowell 1987) show that they were surely minted in Rome or in an eastern branch mint of the imperial mint of Rome. It is indeed possible that branch mints were occasionally set up in an existing local mint to produce these special Roman style issues. The occasion might have been the passage of Trajan in the island in the last days of AD 113 on his way to Antioch, the headquarters of his Parthian wars.

A rectangular countermark with TRAIAN/DACIC (Howg�go 1985, n° 603) might have been applied at the same time. At least 16 worn coins with large flans, probably issued under Claudius, are countermarked with this punch (Nicolaou 1989).

(vii) Hadrian.

No coinage is known. for Hadrian, but circular countermarks with the laureate head of the emperor and the legend A YTO KAI A�PIA (Howgego 1985, n° 38) were applied on coins alre.ady countermarked by Trajan (Nicolaou 1989). Though these countermarks go in pairs, this does not imply that they were

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applied de facto at the same time (Nicolaou 1989). The use of the countermark TRAIAN/DACIC under Hadrian would be curious. Moreover the countermark with Hadrian is sometimes partly struck on the Trajanic one which, in any case, seems much more worn than the Hadrianic punch, indicating that it was applied earlier.

Hadrian is known to have restored Salamis after it was devastated by the Jewish insurrection of AD 1 16. The emperor was hailed as her "[father] and benefactor" by the city in AD 123 and it has been conjectured that he may have visited briefly Salamis in AD 129/130. The countermark might have been applied as a mean to raise funds to restore the city.

(viii) Antoninus Pius.

The next series of Cypriot coinage dates from the reign of Antoninus Pi us. It was confined to bronze and consists of two denominations, a sestertius and a dupondius, with portraits of the emperor on the obverse and Marcus Aurelius Caesar on the reverse (ill.12) The legends, entirely composed of imperial names, have no explicit reference to Cyprus; but these coins are very common on the island (e.g., ten specimens found at Curium [Cox 1959]; five at Salamis [Helly 1973]; five at Paphos [Nicolaou 1990]). The style is not 'Roman' but provincial and these coins were probably minted in Cyprus. The mint at Rome began to strike coins in honour of Marcus Aurelius in AD 139 and therefore the Cypriot coins should be dated accordingly to the 140s. The issue was substantial as a sample die-count of 34 specimens revealed at least 14 obverse dies (Carradice 1988).

A series of coins with Faustina on the obverse and Galerius Antoninus on the reverse, also consisting of two denominations - a sestertius and a dupondius/as - (ill.13), might have been struck for circulation in Cyprus, though no discovery of such

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coin is attested on the island. Their style is 'Roman' as in the case of the coinage of Trajan and they do share some features as the lettering of the legends. Of the two provenances known so far, one is from Germany, the other from France, which does not help much to solve this problem. The emission was very brief, as two obverse dies are known for the sestertius and three for the dupondius/as (Overbeck 197 1).

(ix) Marcus Aurelius.

After AD 140, no comage was struck before the Severan period. But a countermark was applied under Marcus Aurelius on the silver struck by the Flavians. This circular countermark (Howgego 1985, n° 844) shows a laureate head of M. Aurelius with the legend ANTOCIV (or VI), which has been expanded as Anto(ninus) C(os) I(mperator) V or VI (ill.14). It was applied to the tetradrachms and the [}rachms and therefore had no denominational significance.

(x) The Severan dynasty.

The last group struck in the island belongs to the Severan period. Coins of Septimius Severus, Julia Damna, Caracalla (i11.15) and Geta are known. Reverse types include the temple of Paphian Aphrodite, Koinon Kyprion in wreath and a rare new design with a standing eagle. Coins with Caracalla on the obverse and Geta on the reverse (i11.16), without reference to Cyprus, can also be attributed to the island, on the evidence of style and finds. Two series are known, one with Geta Caesar, the other with Geta Augustus: they were probably struck in AD 2 09 when Geta was apointed Augustus, as an obverse die with Caracalla shares a reverse die with Geta Caesar and another with Geta Augustus.

Coins of Elagabalus (ill.17) and Severus Alexander, with the letters �E (probably �HMAPXIKHL: E20YL:IAL:) on the

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reverse, might also have been struck in Cyprus, but there is no

real evidence for that. They are usually attributed to Antioch, but

finds are very common on the island (e.g. 56 specimens found

at Curium [Cox 1959]).

The end of local bronze coinage happened rather earlier

than in most areas of the eastern Roman empire.

To sum up, the production of local Cypriot coinage was not

very abundant. The need of more local currency is evident from

the countermarking of worn bronze coinage at certain times,

notably under Domitian, Trajan, Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius.

The Flavian silver tetradrachms and didrachms were also

countermarked in the time of Marcus Aurelius.

Of course other coins circulated in Cyprus. Roman denarii

have been found in excavations at Curium, Soloi and Paphos. A

single hoard of denarii is known from the island, buried under

Commodus.

For bronze coinage, the finds of Curium and Paphos

suggest a wide variety of currency. In the first century AD,

Jewish issues dated from the mid-first century AD are

promjnent. These finds might indicate that many Jews arrived in

Cyprus after that date, which corresponds to the First Revolt in

Judaea. In the second century, Roman coins form the largest

group, dominating the Cypriot bronzes. The same is true for the

third and fourth century. Apart from occasional eastern

provincial coin, Roman currency is predominant. Most of the

coins come from the nearest mints, Antioch, Cyzicus and

Heraclea in the third century, Antioch, Constantinopolis,

Alexandria, Cyzicus, Nicomedia in the fourth. At that time,

Cyprus had been fully absorbed into the Roman imperial

monetary system.

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ILLUSTRATIONS

1. Paris, National Library, Coin Cabinet, inv. n° 476.

2. Private collection, Paris.

3. Paris, National Library, Coin Cabinet, inv. n° 1965/734.

4. Private collection, Paris.

5. Auction Glendining, Platt Hall I/1950, lot 841.

6. Auction Dorotheum, 15/IV/1983, lot 401.

7. Private collection, Paris.

8. London, British Museum, Department of Coins and Medals,

inv. n° 1914-9-8-9.

9. Paris, National Library, Coin Cabinet, inv. n° 797.

10. Paris, National Library, Coin Cabinet, inv. n° 1991/97.

11. Paris, National Library, Coin Cabinet, inv. n° 817 and 818.

12. Paris, National Library, Coin Cabinet, inv. n° 2430 and 822.

13. Paris, National Library, Coin Cabinet, inv. n° 2627 and 6357.

14. Paris, National Library, Coin Cabinet, inv. n° 1969/429.

15. Private collection B. Damsky, USA.

16. Paris, National Library, Coin Cabinet, inv. n° 1993/456.

17. Paris, National Library, Coin Cabinet, inv. n° Y 28608.

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Amandry 1987/1

Amandry 1987/ll

Bank of Cyprus

BIBLIOGRAPHY

M. Amandry, "Le monnayage julio-claudien a Chypre. I. Auguste", Centre d' Etudes Chypriotes, cahier 7, 1987, 17-31.

M. Amandry, "Le monnayage julio-claudien a Chypre. IT. Tibere", Centre d' Etudes Chypriotes, cahier 8, 1987, 17-25.

Cypriote Coinage from Eve/than to Marc Antonio Braga­dino (eds. M. Iacovou and A. Pitsillides), Nicosia, Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation, 1991.

Carradice/Cowell 1987 I. Carradice and M. Cowell, "The Minting of Roman Imperial Bronze Coins for Circulation in the East: Vespa­sian to Trajan", Numismatic Chronicle 147, 1987, 26-50.

Carradice 1988

Cox 1959

Helly 1973

Helly 1980

Howgego 1985

Nicolaou 1989

Nicolaou 1990

Overbeck 197 I

RPCJ

Walker 1978

l. Carradice, "The Coinage of Roman Cyprus", Cyprus and the East Mediterranean in the Iron Age (ed. V. Tat­ton-Brown), London, BMP, 198/J, 182-187.

D. H. Cox, Coins from the Excavations at Curium, 1932-1953, NNM 145, New York, 1959.

B. Helly, "Les monnaies", Salamis vol. 5. Excavations in the Necropolis of Salamis ill, Nicosia, 1973, 204-213.

B. Helly, "Monnaies de Yespasien frappees a Chypre", Sa/amine de Chypre. Histoire et Archeologie. Etat des recherches, Colloque international du CNRS n° 578, Paris, 1980, 293-31 I.

C. Howgego, Greek hnperial Countennarks, Royal Numis­matic Society Special Publication n° 17, London, 1985.

I. Nicolaou, "Cypriot Bronze Greek Imperial Counter­marked Coins", Proceedings of the international Numismatic Congress. London 1986, Wetteren, 1989, 207-215, pis 23-26.

I. Nicolaou, Paphos Il. The Coins from the House of Dio­nysos, Nicosia, 1990.

B. Overbeck, "M. Galerius Antoninus. Bemerkungen zu einer Fundmiinze aus Mangolding, Ldkr. Regensburg", Bayerische Vorgeschichtsbliitter 36, 1971, 245-27, pis 25-27.

A. Bumett, M. Amandry, P. P. Ripolles, Roman Provincial Coinage I. From the death of Caesar to the death of Vitel­lius (44 BC - AD 69), British Museum Press, London -Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, 1992 ("Cyprus", 576-580, n° 390 1-3995).

D. R. Walker, The Metrology of the Roman Silver Coi­nage Ill, BAR Supp. 40, Oxford, 1978.

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MICHEL AMANDRY'S LECTURE

"COINAGE PRODUCTION AND

MONETARY CIRCULATION IN

ROMAN CYPRUS" WAS DELIVE­

RED AT THE BANK OF CYPRUS

CULTURAL FOUNDATION IN

NICOSIA IN NOVEMBER 199/. J 'V IT WAS DESIGNED AND EDITED

BY MARIA IACOVOU AND

PRINTED BY PROODOS LTD

NICOSIA IN 1000 COPIES IN

JULY 1993 FOR THE BANK OF

CYPRUS CULTURAL FOUNDATION

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