Astronomical Imagery

Sale: Triton XIII, Lot: 330. Estimate $1000.  Closing Date: Monday, 4 January 2010.  Sold For $3250. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Maximinus I. AD 235-238. Æ 32mm (16.23 g, 6h). Anemurium in Cilicia mint. Dated RY 1 (AD 235/6). AVK Γ I OYHP MAΞIMЄINON, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right within pelleted border / ANЄMOYPIЄωN, lion leaping right, head left with mouth open and tongue extended; above its hind quarters, star in crescent; ЄTA (date) in exergue; all within pelleted border. SNG France 711 (same dies); SNG Levante -; SNG von Aulock 5525 corr. var. (Valerian I rev. type; same obv. die; [this coin illustrated as 5524]); SNG Copenhagen -; BMC 6 (rev. only illustrated; same die). EF, attractive olive and brown patina. Exceptional for issue.

The reverse on this coin could refer to Cybele, a manifestation of the Great Mother, an ancient deity who embodied the Earth’s fertility, the rugged mountains and deep recesses, and wild animals. Her association with untamed and unrestrained nature is similar to Dionysos, and Cybele was often depicted with a lion (or biga drawn by lions). The presence of the star-in-crescent suggests that some otherwise unknown astronomical event may have occurred in relation to her worship.