Phaselis (BC 27-AD 14) AE 17 - Augustus

Augustus (?), 27 BC-14 AD. AE17 (3.25g). Laureate bust right, A behind / ΦA-CH, Athena advancing right, brandishing spear and shield. Possibly unpublished. VF.

Phaselis was a port-city located in Lycia and the only strictly Greek city in the entire province. It was founded by the Rhodians in 690 BC during a period of expansion. This coin embodies the turn of Phaselis from a Greek city into a Roman colony. It bears the portrait of an early emperor (perhaps Augustus due to the style and presence of "A" behind the bust), but also similar reverse to earlier Grecian bronzes. The city ethnic is more complete here, reading "ΦA-CH" rather than "ΦA" on the Grecian types. This coin seems unpublished, and there are no records of a similar specimen. Provincials of Phaselis are so rare that very few publications delve into them at all.