346, Lot: 330. Estimate $100. Sold for $140. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

EGYPT, Alexandria. Antoninus Pius. AD 138-161. BI Tetradrachm (24mm, 13.09 g, 1h). Dated RY 2 (AD 138/139). Bare head right / Canopus of Osiris right; ЄTO VC B (date) around. Köln 1284; Dattari (Savio) 2179; K&G 35.6 var. (slight drapery); Emmett 1373.2. VF, toned, encrustation on the obverse.

From a Hungarian Collection formed primarily in the 1930’s.

Canopic jars were used to store the organs that were removed from the body during the mummification process, specifically the lungs, liver, stomach, and intestines. The term “canopic” to describe such vessels is a misnomer, being derived from the port city of Canopus, where the god Osiris was worshipped in the form of a jar.