Extremely Rare Representation of an Egyptian Temple

Triton XXI, Lot: 86. Estimate $2000. Sold for $4500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

EGYPT, Alexandria. Hadrian. AD 117-138. Æ Drachm (34mm, 25.26 g, 12h). Dated RY 19 (AD 134/135). AVT KAIC TPAIAN A∆PIANOC CЄB, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Pylon (entryway) of an Egyptian temple with a wide door or gate decorated with a garland above; to either side of the gate, an obelisk with two windows above; in the center of the pylon above the gate, a facing statue of Isis wearing headdress and holding long scepter or torch; ЄN NЄ AKΔ (date) around, L in exergue. Köln 1187; Dattari (Savio) 1970 (this coin); K&G 32.670; RPC III 6038/17 (this coin); Emmett 996.19; Staffieri, Alexandria In Nummis 80 (this coin). VF, reddish brown patina with touches of green. Extremely rare representation of an Egyptian temple on an Alexandrian coin. Only one other on CoinArchives.

From the Giovanni Maria Staffieri Collection. Ex Numismatik Lanz 109 (27 May 2002), lot 448; Giovanni Dattari Collection, no. 1970.

This type appears to be rarer than indicated in Emmett, where it is given an “R1” rating. The authors of RPC list only twenty-six examples for both obverse types (bust right and left), most of which are in museum or institutional collections. This coin and the one we sold in 2010 (CNG E-Sale 237, lot 221) are the only two specimens to appear on the market in the last fifteen years, with this coin being superior in condition.