Alexander the Great as Ktistes

273, Lot: 125. Estimate $150. Sold for $525. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CILICIA, Hierapolis-Castabala. Pseudo-autonomous issue. Circa AD 138-192. Æ (26mm, 8.80 g, 6h). Diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust of Alexander the Great right / Veiled and turreted bust of Tyche right; torch before. RPC I 4065; RPC Online temp. no. 5806; SNG France 2226-7; SNG Levante 1577. VF, dark green patina, obverse die break.

The obverse portrait is now thought to depict Alexander the Great as founder (ktistes) of Hieropolis-Castabala. During the second century AD it was very popular for cities to claim a foundation by Alexander as a means of enhancing their status.