SYRIA, Seleucis and Pieria. Apamea. Tessera (Lead, 23 mm, 7.34 g, 12 h), CY 24 = 43/2 BC. Bare imperatorial head (Gaius Cassius Longinus?) to right. Rev. [AΠAMEΩN / THΣ IEPAΣ - KAI AΣYΛOY] Elephant walking right; in field to right, [ΔΚ]. Leu Numismatik Web Auction 12 (2020), 959. An extremely rare piece of great historical interest. Fine.



The number 24 on the reverse of this intriguing tessera likely corresponds to the Pompeian Era, dating it to 43/2 BC - a year marked by the expulsion of Quintus Caecilius Bassus from Apameia by Gaius Cassius Longinus and a significant shift in the city's coinage, moving from the old autonomous Zeus/elephant types to the Athena/Nike issues. Unlike the civic reverse, the obverse of this tessera features a head that appears distinctly imperatorial and may depict either Bassus or, more likely, Longinus, one of the two principal assassins of Julius Caesar.