Rare Hermes-Thoth Type of Tyre

CNG 100, Lot: 1754. Estimate $300. Sold for $475. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PHOENICIA, Tyre. Volusian. AD 251-253. Æ (28mm, 17.43 g, 6h). Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Hermes-Thoth standing left, holding rolled papyrus and caduceus; at feet, ibis standing left on low basis; to right, murex shell and palm tree. Rouvier –; BMC 448. Good VF, earthen green patina. Rare type.

Unlike traditional Greco-Roman depictions of Hermes/Mercury, the syncretic Egyptian deity Hermes-Thoth is depicted bearded.