CNG 87, Lot: 826. Estimate $1000. Sold for $2400. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

EUBOEA, Eretria. Commodus. AD 177-192. Æ (21mm, 8.39 g, 6h). Laureate head right / Draped bust of triple-headed deity, the central facing figure a draped female wearing tall headdress, those on the sides bareheaded and bearded. BCD Euboia 359 = Pozzi 3402; W. Wroth, “Greek coins acquired by the British Museum in 1901,” NC 1902, 11 (same obv. die). VF. Extremely rare and interesting type.

Possible identifications of this triple-head figure cited by Wroth, include Hekate (the male heads on the British Museum coin were unclear) and Demeter with two Kabeiroi. Taking note of the principal deities honored on the coins of Euboia, a simpler alternative is that they may represent Hera, wearing a tall polos, Herakles (on the left, with traces of a lion skin knotted around his shoulders?) and Zeus.