EGYPT, Alexandria. Antoninus Pius. AD 138-161. Æ Drachm (35.5mm, 25.10 g, 11h). Labors of Herakles series. Dated RY 10 (AD 146/7). Fine.

Electronic Auction 552
Lot: 372. Estimated: $ 750

Roman Provincial, Bronze

Sold For $ 650. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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EGYPT, Alexandria. Antoninus Pius. AD 138-161. Æ Drachm (35.5mm, 25.10 g, 11h). Labors of Herakles series. Dated RY 10 (AD 146/7). Laureate head right / Herakles and the Nemean Lion – Herakles standing right, holding the Nemean Lion by its neck and jaws with both hands and raising it up into the air, off of the ground; to left, club; [L] ∆Є KATOV (date) around. Köln 1535; Dattari (Savio) 2593; K&G 35.351; RPC IV.4 993.19 (this coin); Emmett 1555.10; Carlson, “Rarities 4–The Labors of Hercules Series,” SAN Journal 1972/3, Vol. IV, No. 4, p. 64 (this coin illustrated). Dark green and brown patina, some roughness, edge splits. Fine. Rare.

Ex Kerry K. Wetterstrom Collection (Classical Numismatic Auctions XIII, 4 December 1990), lot 189; John Work Garrett/Johns Hopkins University Collection (Part I, Numismatic Fine Arts & Bank Leu, 16 May 1984), lot 1011 (part of).

For his first labor, Herakles was to slay the Nemean Lion and bring back its skin. The Nemean Lion, called thus as it had been terrorizing the area around Nemea, had a skin so thick that it was impenetrable to weapons. After making futile attempts to subdue it with his weapons, Herakles cast them aside and wrestled the lion to the ground, eventually killing it by thrusting his arm down its throat and choking it to death. Skinning the beast was no easy task, either. After Herakles spent hours trying unsuccessfully to skin the lion, Athena, in the guise of an old crone, appeared to him, and convinced him to use the creature’s own claws to cut the hide. Thereafter, the hide became the hero’s own impenetrable armor. When Eurystheus saw Herakles wearing his new fearsome outfit, he hid in a large bronze jar, and thenceforth commanded the hero through a herald.

Closing Date and Time: 13 December 2023 at 12:03:40 ET.

All winning bids are subject to a 20% buyer’s fee.