ADAMS FAMILY TETRADRACHM OF NERO AND POPPAEA

David writes:

Tetradrachm of Nero and Poppaea, San Antonio Museum of Art Roman, A.D. 64–65, Billon, diam. 2.5 cm, San Antonio Museum of Art, gift of Gilbert M. Denman, Jr., 91.111.30.

There are plenty of ancient coins in SAMA's collection, but this one has a notable pedigree.

"This Roman coin from Alexandria, Egypt, bears a portrait of the emperor Nero on one side and his wife Poppaea on the other side. It's made of billon, a mixture of valuable silver with much cheaper copper or copper alloy," said Lynley McAlpine, a postdoctoral curatorial fellow at the museum.

"The coin itself is not that unusual but its history is special. This ancient coin was previously in the collection of the historian Henry Adams, who was the grandson of President John Quincy Adams, and the great-grandson of President John Adams.

"The Adams family coin collection was started by John Adams, added to by John Quincy Adams, and passed down to Henry Adams — but we don't know exactly who added this particular coin to the collection. Henry Adams donated the entire collection to the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1913.

"In the 1970s, when the Massachusetts Historical Society wanted to make microfilm copies of the Adams family papers, they sold the coin collection to raise money for that project. Eventually it made its way to San Antonio, and it's the only object from the Ancient Mediterranean collection that we know once belonged to a family of U.S. presidents."

To read the complete article, see:
Odd Objects: San Antonio Museums Share Fascinating (and Creepy) Finds From Deep in Their Collections (https://www.sacurrent.com/ArtSlut/archives/2020/05/12/odd-objects-san-antonio-museums-share-fascinating-and-creepy-finds-from-deep-in-their-collections)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web