Sale: Triton VII, Lot: 772. Estimate $400.  Closing Date: Monday, 12 January 2004.  Sold For $675. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CILICIA, Corycus. Valerian. 253-260 AD. Æ 30mm (21.11 gm). AU K PO OUALERIANOC, radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / KWRUKIWTWN AV NAVAPXIC, Dionysus standing left, holding kantharus and thyrsus with panther at feet, next to him a prize crown with caduceus, palm, and aplustre set on tripod, QEMIC on crown. SNG Levante 819 (this coin); SNG France 1123; BMC Lycaonia pg. 69, 21; SNG Copenhagen 123; SNG von Aulock 5686; Klose & Stumpf 259. VF, dark green patina. [See color enlargement on plate 11] ($500)

The presiding deity of the Themian games was the goddess Themis, personification of Justice and Order, who had been the patron of the oracle of Delphi before Apollo. Qema also means a deposit, usually of money, and the Themian games were unusual in having cash prizes for the winners, unlike the more typical awards of wreaths, wine, oil, or celery.