Sale: Nomos 9, Lot: 235. Estimate CHF1000.  Closing Date: Monday, 20 October 2014.  Sold For CHF2100. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Philippopolis, Thrace. Hadrian, 117-138. 5 Assaria (Bronze, 33mm, 26.51 g 6), c. later 120s. ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟC CΕΒΑCΤΟC Laureate and draped bust of Hadrian to right. Rev. ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΠΟΛΕΙΤΩΝ On the right, Tyche standing left, holding patera in her right hand and two ears of grain in her left; before her on the left, the river-god Hebros reclining to right. Varbanov 634. Rare. With a fine bust of Hadrian, a sculptural reverse and a dark green patina. Good very fine.

This coin is a particularly elegant one, with a very well made portrait of the emperor and a beautifully designed reverse showing Tyche honoring the city’s river, the Hebros, in the person of its eponymous river god (now the modern city of Plovdiv on the Maritsa).