Sale: Triton XIII, Lot: 336. Estimate $5000.  Closing Date: Monday, 4 January 2010.  Sold For $6500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Valerian I. AD 253-260. Æ 35mm (32.50 g, 1h). Antiochia ad Maeandrum in Caria mint. AV KAI ΠO ΛIKI(NN ligate)IOC OVAΛЄPIANOC, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right within pelleted border / ANTIOXЄΩN, river-god Maeandrus, holding reed in outstretched right hand and cradling cornucopia in left arm, reclining left on platform; to left, triple bay arch surmounted by stork standing right; to right, figure, holding walking staff, traversing bridge left; all set on on bridge composed of six arches surmounted by railing spanning river with smaller arches on either side forming access from river banks; below, flowing water visible; in exergue, two fish back-to-back; all within pelleted border. SNG München -; SNG Tübingen -: SNG von Aulock ;- SNG Copenhagen -; BMC 56. Good VF, dark green patina with traces of red and a few deposits. Extremely rare.

This bridge which spanned the Maeandrum, one of the city’s two rivers, is known only from its coinage of this period. Although recent archaeological work in the area has uncovered traces of the city, showing it to have been quite affluent, no trace of the bridge remains. According to Stephanus Byzantinus, the city itself was founded by Antiochus II. Pliny the Elder (NH 5.108) said the city was built to replace two small settlements that occupied the site, and Strabo (630) called it a modest city and noted the region’s propensity for earthquakes.