Triton XXI, Lot: 77. Estimate $5000. Sold for $4500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

EGYPT, Alexandria. Hadrian. AD 117-138. Æ Drachm (35mm, 27.94 g, 11h). Dated RY 18 (AD 133/134). AVT KAIC TPAIAN A∆PIANOC CЄB, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Two canopic jars of Osiris, both crowned with different headdresses and decorations on the jars; L I H (date) across the field. Köln 1107-8; Dattari (Savio) 7593 (this coin); K&G 32.590; RPC III 5881/35 (this coin); Emmett 933.18; Staffieri, Alexandria In Nummis 70 (this coin). EF, dark brown patina with touches of green. Well struck, which shows all of the detail on the canopic jars.

From the Giovanni Maria Staffieri Collection, purchased from Renzo Canavesi, Sagno, 1996. Ex Renzo Canavesi Collection (Sagno); Dr. Piero Beretta Collection (Milan); Giovanni Dattari Collection, no. 7593.

A wonderful type that depicts two canopic jars. 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.