Intriguing Banquet Scene

271, Lot: 324. Estimate $300. Sold for $700. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THRACE, Bizya. Hadrian. AD 117-138. Æ (25mm, 9.44 g, 6h). Laureate and draped(?) bust right / Banquet scene: male (Asclepius?) reclining left on couch at the end of which sits female (Hygeia?); uncertain figure to left; to right, forepart of horse left. Youroukova 8 var.; Varbanov 1415 corr. (obv. legend and bust type; this coin cited). VF, black patina. Rare and interesting.

Ex Classical Numismatic Group 46 (24 June 1998), lot 806.

This coin depicts an interesting scene that was repeated by two other emperors and was obviously of great local significance. While sometimes thought to depict the local myth of King Tereus being served the corpse of his son in revenge for his crimes against his sister-in-law, a serpent-entwined staff beneath the couch has led some to interpret the central figures as Asclepius and Hygeia. A fuller understanding of this scene unfortunately eludes us.

The bust type is equally intriguing; while on the Youroukova plate coin and other recently sold specimens the bust is worn to the point that Hadrian appears to have only slight drapery on the far shoulder, here we have something that looks like a cord around the neck. While possibly just representing drapery over both shoulders (albeit in an unusually diaphanous way), perhaps we are dealing instead with some kind of cultic or civic apparel, such as on the “demiourgos” coinage of Tarsus.