A denarius of Cleopatra and Antony

Coin from the Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney, NM2004.4116. Scanned by Madeline Robinson.

A silver denarius showing Mark Antony and Cleopatra, struck in 32 BC.

Cleopatra face

Two heads! This coin seems to have two ‘heads’ sides: on the obverse side we see Cleopatra and on the reverse Mark Antony. These double portrait types were used in this period to communicate alliances, but normally between different Roman politicians (e.g. the triumvirs).
Denominations This issue is a denarius, a denomination used widely within the Roman world. In the east, in Syria, a different denomination was accepted: the silver tetradrachm. A very similar issue, showing Antony and Cleopatra, was struck on tetradrachms for use in Syria.
Cleopatra Cleopatra is shown wearing a diadem, marking her as a Hellenistic queen. The legend reads CLEOPATRAE·REGINAE·REGVM·FILIORVM·REGVM = “Cleopatra, Queen of Kings and of the Children of Kings”. Having a Ptolemaic queen shown and named on a Roman coin was extremely unusual. Much of Augustus' propaganda about Antony in this period reflected fears by the Romans that his association with Cleopatra would lead to power shifting towards Egypt and rule by kings in the manner of the Hellenistic period.
Prow The prow of the ship beneath Cleopatra’s bust communicates naval strength, which was central to Egyptian power in the Hellenistic period and had allowed the kingdom to outlast many of its competitors in the eastern Mediterranean.

Antony is shown on this side of the coin with an Armenian tiara behind him.
Legend The writing or legend accompanying Antony’s portrait reads ANTONI ARMENIA DEVICTA, communicating that Armenia had been conquered. Antony fought Armenia in 34 BC as part of his Parthian campaign. His attack on Parthia ultimately failed; its clear Antony wanted to stress the part of the campaign that succeeded. An Armenian crown is visible behind him, signifying his domination of the Armenian kingdom.

The scholarly reference for this coin is RRC 543/1.