Wonderful Depiction of Kronos

Triton XXI, Lot: 118. Estimate $5000. Sold for $7000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

EGYPT, Alexandria. Antoninus Pius. AD 138-161. Æ Drachm (35mm, 26.99 g, 1h). Dated RY 4 (AD 140/141). AVT K T AIΛ A∆P ANTωNINOC ЄVC CЄB, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Draped and veiled bust right of Kronos, crowned with solar disk; falx (sickle) to right; L ∆ (date) across field. Köln –; Dattari (Savio) 8583 (same dies); K&G 35.92 var. (date spelled out, falx behind Kronos’ shoulder = Dattari 2684); Emmett 1595.4 (R5); Staffieri, Alexandria In Nummis 117 (this coin). Near EF, attractive dark brown patina with traces of green. Extremely rare, a type issued by Pius only during his fourth regnal year. An exceptional bust of Kronos, with only two other specimens appearing in auction since 2000.

From the Giovanni Maria Staffieri Collection, purchased from Dr. Piero Beretta, Milan, September 1973. Ex Dr. Piero Beretta Collection (Milan).

Giovanni purchased this coin from Dr. Beretta, one of his sources for Dattari coins, and believed it to be Dattari 8583 (and it does share the same dies). Dattari 8583 was, however, part of the Dr. Meyer-Coloniensis Collection (Münz Zentrum 64, 15 April 1988, lot 270), and it was recently sold again by Dr. Busso Peus Nachf. in their Auction 420, lot 308 (1 November 2017). Most likely, this was another example of this rare type that was acquired by Dr. Beretta from another source, and due to sharing the same dies, he thought it to be the Dattari coin.