Sale: CNG 79, Lot: 482. Estimate $200.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 17 September 2008.  Sold For $530. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of MAURETANIA. Ptolemy. AD 24-40. Æ 1/2 Unit (8.30 g, 8h). Caesarea mint. Diademed and draped bust right / Lion standing right; star above (barely visible). MAA 351a; Mazard 498; Müller, Afrique 198; SNG Copenhagen -. Near VF, dark green patina, rough surfaces. Rare.

From the J.S. Wagner Collection.

The wear on the reverse makes the head of the animal appear to be a bull’s head with horn. Müller 199 records a single specimen with a bull standing right on the reverse, but this attribution has since been dismissed (see MAA). A close inspection of this coin reveals that this is also the lion standing type. First, under magnification, the “horn” appears to be a small die break. Second, the rest of the animal’s body appears to conform to a lion, not a bull. Finally, Müller 199 does not note the star symbol, but it is clearly there on this coin, conforming to all the known lion types.