Triton XXI, Lot: 137. Estimate $1500. Sold for $2500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

EGYPT, Alexandria. Antoninus Pius. AD 138-161. Æ Drachm (36mm, 25.21 g, 12h). Dated RY 15 (AD 151/152). AVT K T AIΛ A∆P ANTωNINOC C ЄB ЄVC, laureate and draped bust left / Altar of Agathodaimon: tetrastyle façade decorated with facing statue and garlanded entablature set on two-tiered base; pyre of burning pinecones on top; L in exergue, I E (date) to either side. Köln 1673; Dattari (Savio) 3000 bis (this coin); K&G 35.534; Emmett 1449.15; Staffieri, Alexandria In Nummis 124 (this coin). Good VF, dark brown patina with touches of green. Rare type, only issued by Pius for four regnal years (2, 15, 23 and 24). This particular specimen, ex Dattari, is also one of the few known examples with a left-facing bust of Pius.

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. 3000 bis.