Donation of the Lady Mineia

169, Lot: 5. Estimate $100. Sold for $137. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

LUCANIA, Paestum (Poseidonia). Circa 90-44 BC. Æ 15mm (3.69 g). Mineia M. F., magistrate. Female head left / Two-story building. Crawford, Paestum 38b; HN Italy 1258; Price & Trell fig. 475. Near VF, dark brown patina, a bit rough.

From the J. S. Wagner Collection.

We have here the rare instance of a woman signing as the sponsor of a coinage issue. Mineia is also known from contemporary inscriptions as a major benefactor of the city of Paestum. The building, a public structure of some sort, may be another of her donations to the city, and it is even conceivable the female head is a portrait of Mineia herself.