An Otherwise Unknown Myth

Sale: CNG 81, Lot: 790. Estimate $500.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 20 May 2009.  Sold For $400. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PHRYGIA, Acmoneia. Volusian. AD 251-253. Æ 27mm (10.89 g, 6h). Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Horseman, holding whip, on galloping horse right; below horse, river-god Sindros reclining left; to right, two females (deities, or personifications of nature) standing left on rocky outcropping. Von Aulock, Phrygiens -; SNG München -; SNG von Aulock 3380 (same obv. die); BMC 107-8 (same dies); SNG Leypold 1403 (same dies). VF, black-green patina with earthen overtones.

From the D. Alighieri Collection.

The main figure of the horseman, in association with the presonifications of the river-god and the presence of the female figures (whether themselves personifications of the surrounding countryside, or actual individuals), may represent an otherwise unknown foundation myth for Acmoneia.