407, Lot: 387. Estimate $100. Sold for $60. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee. |
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JUDAEA, Gaza. Hadrian. AD 117-138. Æ (17mm, 4.16 g, 12h). Dated
epidemia 4 and CY 193 (AD 132/3). Laureate head right / Hercules standing right, holding club and lion’s skin; symbol of Marnas to left. Sofaer 73; RPC III 4031. VF, dark green patina.
From the François Righetti Collection.
Hadrian visited Gaza more than once, and it was upon such a visit in AD 128 that an additional reckoning date, that of the επιδημία (imperial visit), was added. During one of his trips the great temple of Zeus-Marnas may have been founded, as it first appears on the coins of Hadrian.