172, Lot: 133. Estimate $100. Sold for $225. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

EGYPT, Alexandria. Hadrian. AD 117-138. Æ Drachm (34mm, 24.09 g). Dated RY 17 (AD 132/3). Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / Distyle temple with globe in pediment, within Serapis holding sceptre and greeting the emperor, who rests his hand on a smaller temple or shrine marked ADRIANON; date in exergue. Cf. Köln 1084 (Serapis also holds globe); Milne 1380; Dattari 1944; Emmett 1042. VF, brown patina with reddish deposits, a few light scratches. A rare one year type.

From The John A. Seeger Collection.

This one year coin type marks the construction of the Hadrianeum at Thebes, a temple dedicated to the imperial cult. This temple joined the numerous shrines built throughout Egypt in honor of Hadrian’s companion Antinous, drowned in the Nile in October, AD 130.