“Saturn in Capricorn”

354, Lot: 443. Estimate $150. Sold for $1100. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

EGYPT, Alexandria. Antoninus Pius. AD 138-161. Æ Drachm (34mm, 21.45 g, 1h). Zodiac Series. Dated RY 8 (144/5). Laureate head right / Saturn in Capricorn: Capricorn left; above, veiled bust of Cronus left with disk atop head; [star of eight rays to left]; [L] H (date) across field. Köln 1505 var. (obv. bust type and legend); Dattari (Savio) 8834; K&G 35.272 var. (same); Emmett 1597.8 (R4). Fine, green and reddish-brown patina. Rare and popular Zodiac drachm.

Alexandria saw an immense output of coinage during the eighth year of Antoninus Pius’s reign. The Zodiac drachms, mythological types, and a host of issues for the nomes appeared that year. One explanation for this activity centers on the celebration of the renewal of the Great Sothic cycle, the point when the star Sothis (Sirius) rises on the same point on the horizon as the sun. This cycle of 1461 years began early in the reign of Pius in AD 139, and apparently prompted a renewal in the ancient Egyptian religion, while the coin types also stressed the connections to the Greco-Roman Pantheon.