Sale: CNG 79, Lot: 710. Estimate $200.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 17 September 2008.  Sold For $500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

MESOPOTAMIA, Hatra. Mid-3rd century AD. Æ 23mm (5.44 g, 12h). Radiate and bearded head of sun god Shamash right / Large inverted S C within laurel wreath. Slocum Series 3; Walker Type -; SNG Copenhagen -. VF, green-brown patina, earthen deposits. Wonderfully crude style.

From the J.S. Wagner Collection.

The crude cast issue of Slocum Series 3 suggests that this series was minted during a time of turmoil. Slocum suggests that the events surrounding the conquest of Hatra in AD 241 by the Sasanian king Shahpur I may be a possibility (Amm. Marc. 25.8.5).