Roman bronze stamp with Latin inscription, ex Longperier collection

R63

£450.00

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A bronze stamp with a retrograde two-line inscription in Latin reading “C.N MNEI HIMERI”.

Stamps such as this were used to identify the owner of property such as terracotta tiles, textiles and provisions. Stamps were also used by bakers to advertise the bakery which made a loaf of bread (see the link below to such a loaf which was preserved in Pompeii).

Culture
Roman, 2nd or 3rd Century AD

Condition
Ring on back mostly lost otherwise intact as shown

Size
1.7 x 5.5 cms

Provenance
Ex. collection: Adrien Prévost de Longpérier, Paris, France (1816-1882). Longpérier was a prominent numismatist and archaeologist, he was curator of Antiquities at the Louvre from 1848 to 1870, and became president of the Society of Antiquaries of France in 1851.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrien_Pr%C3%A9vost_de_Longp%C3%A9rier

For a loaf of bread from Pompeii bearing a baker’s stamp, please see:
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/A-stamped-loaf-of-bread-from-Pompeii-dated-to-the-first-century-AD-the-stamp-bears-the_fig1_271822976

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