205, Lot: 199. Estimate $100. Sold for $105. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PHRYGIA, Apameia. Circa 100-50 BC. Æ 18mm (8.58 g, 12h). Andron..., son of Alki..., magistrate. Laureate head of Zeus right / Cult statue of Artemis Anaïtis facing. SNG Copenhagen 177; SNG von Aulock 3470 var. (magistrate). Good VF, black patina.

From the D. Alighieri Collection.

Artemis Anaïtis was a fusion of the Persian goddess Anahita and the Greek Artemis. Tacitus (Annals 62) refers to the syncretic deity simply as the “Persian Diana”, who had a temple in Lydia “dedicated in the reign in of Cyrus” (presumably Cyrus the Great).