CNG 94, Lot: 935. Estimate $300. Sold for $360. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

EGYPT, Alexandria. Marcus Aurelius. As Caesar, AD 139-161. Æ Drachm (36mm, 25.50 g, 1h). Dated RY 11 of Antoninus Pius (AD 147/8). Bareheaded, draped, and cuirassed bust right / L ЄN[ΔЄ]–KATOV, Nilus reclining left, holding reed and cornucopia; [I]ς (mark of the Nile) above, crocodile below. Köln –; Dattari (Savio) 3205; K&G 37.11; Emmet 1891 (unlisted for year 11). VF, reddish-brown patina, very minor roughness.

From the Robert M. Harlick Collection, privately purchased from H. D. Rauch.

The numeral on the reverse represents 16 cubits on the Nilometer, the gauge which measured the annual flood crest of the Nile, with 16 being the ideal point for the agriculture of the Nile valley. Lower than 16 cubits brought the danger of drought conditions, much higher and there was the possibility of damaging floods.