Sale: CNG 69, Lot: 988. Estimate $200.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 8 June 2005.  Sold For $510. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

MYSIA, Pergamum. Gallienus. 253-268 AD. Æ 34mm (19.42 gm, 5h). Sex. Claudius Silianus, Asiarch. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / •EPI CEX•KL• CEILI, ANO/V in two lines across upper field, PERGAMHN, WN across mid-field, PRWTWN•G•/NEWK in two lines in exergue, Pergamus standing facing, head right, receiving ram's head from Hermes(?); open capsa (scroll case) on ground between. SNG France 2294 var. (magistrate); cf. SNG Copenhagen 512; BMC Mysia 347. VF, brown patina with thin, light-green overtones, and orichalcum highlights. Rare and noteworthy mythological type. ($200)

From the Garth R. Drewry Collection. Ex Harlan J. Berk Bid or Buy Sale 75 (28 January 1993), lot 459.

As both male figures on this coin are nude, one may conclude that they are heroes. The individual on the left, who receives the ram's head, must be Pergamus, the grandson of Achilles and the eponymous re-founder of Pergamum. The figure on the right is less certain, since he lacks any specific adjunct. Wroth and Levante have suggested Hermes. The object on the ground between the two figures has been described, on the basis of imperfectly preserved specimens, as an altar. Our coin clearly shows it to be an open capsa, or scroll case. Pergamum was the inventor and chief supplier for parchment, a writing material made of sheep's skin, and much of the city's revenue came from the sale of this material. The presentation of the source of this wealth (the ram's head) by the god of business (Hermes) to the eponymous founder of the city (Pergamus) over the capsa, makes a noteworthy allusion to the city.