EGYPT, Alexandria. Galba. AD 68-69. Æ Hemidrachm (32mm, 15.30 g, 12h). Dated RY 2 (AD 68/9). ΣEPOYI ΓΑΛΒΑ AYTO ΚΑΙΣ ΣΕΒA, laureate head right / Bust of Nilus right, wearing taenia, slight drapery on left shoulder; cornucopia behind his right shoulder; L B (date) to right. Köln –; Dattari (Savio) –; K&G 17.25; RPC I 5348; Emmett 178.2 (R4). Brown patina, cleaning scratches. VF. Struck on an oversized flan. Very rare, this coin finer than any specimen published in RPC or in CoinArchives.
From the Dr. Thomas E. Beniak Collection, purchased from Roma Numismatics, 30 July 2011.
Galba continued Nero’s emphasis on the production of billon tetradrachms at the Alexandrian mint. His bronze coinage, while not quite as rare as Nero’s, is known only from his second regnal year. The authors of RPC cite only five examples for this hemidrachm type, with an additional four in CoinArchives.
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