PHRYGIA, Prymnessus. temp. Gallienus. AD 253-268. Æ (22mm, 5.61 g, 6h). Good VF.

Electronic Auction 547
Lot: 581. Estimated: $ 300

Roman Provincial, Bronze

Sold For $ 375. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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PHRYGIA, Prymnessus. temp. Gallienus. AD 253-268. Æ (22mm, 5.61 g, 6h). MIΔAC BACIΛЄVC, draped bust of King Midas right, wearing Phrygian cap / Dikaiosyne standing left, holding scales and scepter. von Aulock, Phrygiens 962-7 (same rev. die); Rutten, Midas 3 (this coin); SNG München –; SNG von Aulock 3938 var. (rev. legend). Black patina, light smoothing, minor areas of weakness. Good VF.

From the DFA collection. Ex Leu Web Auction 17 (14 August 2021), lot 1734 (hammered for 700 CHF); Leu 3 (27 October 2018), lot 174.

Midas, the mytho-historical king of Phrygia and Lydia, was granted the so-called "Golden Touch" by Dionysus because the king wished for unending wealth as a reward for his guest-friendship to Silenus. Everything Midas touched turned to gold, including food. Starving and pleading for relief, the king was instructed to bathe in the waters of the river Pactolus. The water removed Midas’ “gift” and turned the sand of the river-bed into grains of gold. It was the naturally-occuring ore of the Pactolus that became the source of the metal used in the first archaic electrum coinages of Asia Minor.

Closing Date and Time: 4 October 2023 at 13:13:20 ET.

All winning bids are subject to a 20% buyer’s fee.