SYRIA, Seleucis and Pieria. Apamea. C. Cassius Longinus (?), 43-42 BC. Tessera (Lead, 21 mm, 5.49 g, 1 h), CY 24 = 43/2 BC. Bare head of Cassius Longinus (?) to right. Rev. AΠAMEΩ[N] / THΣ IEPAΣ - [KAI] AΣYΛ[OY] Elephant walking right; in field to right, Δ[Κ]. Leu Numismatik Web Auction 12 (2020), 959. Extremely rare and of great historical interest. Good fine.



The date '24' on the reverse of this intriguing tessera likely refers to the Pompeian Era, dating it to 43/2 BC. This year marked the expulsion of Quintus Caecilius Bassus from Apameia by Gaius Cassius Longinus and a significant shift in the city’s coinage, moving away from the old autonomous types featuring Zeus and the elephant toward those depicting Athena and Nike. Unlike the civic reverse, the head on the obverse of this tessera has a distinctly imperatorial style and may represent either Bassus or, more likely, Longinus, one of the leading assassins of Julius Caesar.