Very Rare Domitian Tetradrachm

Sale: CNG 75, Lot: 875. Estimate $1500.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 23 May 2007.  Sold For $1500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

EGYPT, Alexandria. Domitian. AD 81-96. BI Tetradrachm (12.50 g, 12h). Dated RY 8 (AD 88/9). Laureate head right / River-god Nile reclining left, holding grain ears and cornucopia; below, two lotus flowers and elephant standing right. RPC II -; Köln -; cf. Frankfurt 225 (same obv. die); cf. Curtis 284a (described as Euthenia); Emmett 241. VF, toned, minor roughness. Very rare.

In his addenda, Curtis records a single specimen of a Domitian tetradrachm with the figure of Euthenia reclining left on the reverse, while below is the figure of an elephant stands right. Unfortunately, this singular and important piece was never illustrated and no record of its sale appears to exist. The present specimen appears rather to be the type featuring Nilus with a double-struck hippopotamus below.