349, Lot: 337. Estimate $100. Sold for $70. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

EGYPT, Alexandria. Hadrian. AD 117-138. BI Tetradrachm (25mm, 12.19 g, 11h). Dated RY 10 (AD 125/6). Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Canopus of Osiris to right. Köln 903; Dattari (Savio) 7397-8; K&G 32.351 var. (placement of date); Emmett 827.10. Good Fine, toned, porous.

Canopic jars were used to store the organs that were removed from the body during the mummification process, specifically the lungs, liver, stomach, and intestines. The term “canopic” to describe such vessels is a misnomer, being derived from the port city of Canopus, where the god Osiris was worshipped in the form of a jar.