50, Lot: 42. Estimate $200. Sold for $120. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

TROAS, Alexandria Troas. Valerian I. 253-260 AD. Æ 21mm (5.64 gm). Laureate and draped bust right / Silenus, his right arm held by nude figure at left, his left arm around the neck of satyr at right, who reaches toward another satyr, nearly hidden, facing left behind. Bellinger, Troy, the Coins, A435; SNG Copenhagen 194. VF, gray-green patina. ($200)

Although Bellinger describes this intriguing type as "drunken Heracles with satyrs", we believe it represents the "Silenus dance." Silenus was a bearded, hairy old satyr and mentor of Dionysus. Since "he could not trust his own legs, he is generally represented...supported by other satyrs." He is famous for the "Silenus dance," and is referred to as "the dancer." The figure at left is probably his good friend Marsyas, who appears freguently on coins of this city. The horned figure at right is clearly a satyr, as is perhaps the one behind, whose head may have been mistaken for a club. All four are holding hands and generally cavorting about naked. Since we can find no reference to a "Herakles dance," we go - happily - with the "Silenus dance".