EGYPT, Alexandria. Antoninus Pius. AD 138-161. BI Tetradrachm (25mm, 13.08 g, 12h). Dated RY 11 (AD 147/8). VF.

CNG Feature Auction 126
Lot: 529.
Closing Date: May 29 2024 11:00 ET

The Beniak Collection of Alexandrian Coinage, Billon

Estimate: $ 500

BID NOW

EGYPT, Alexandria. Antoninus Pius. AD 138-161. BI Tetradrachm (25mm, 13.08 g, 12h). Dated RY 11 (AD 147/8). Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind / Apollo Didymeus standing left, holding stag in left hand and bow in right; L ЄNΔЄ KATOV (date) around. Köln 1564 var. (legend arrangement); Dattari (Savio) 2145; K&G 35.387; RPC IV.4 1033; Emmett 1359.9 (year unrecorded). Toned, porosity, spots of verdigris. VF. Very rare.

From the Dr. Thomas E. Beniak Collection, purchased from Holyland Numismatics, 28 April 2012.

The cult center of Apollo Didymeus near Miletos achieved a high level of fame throughout the ancient world. The 26th Dynasty pharaoh Necho II (610-595 BC) won two great battles in Syria, and dedicated his armor to the shrine of Apollo (Herodotus ii, 159). Its oracle was second in popularity only to that of Delphi. His influence played a significant role in initiating Diocletian’s persecution of the Christians in the fourth century. His popularity continued until 314 when Constantine I declared Christianity the only official religion of the Roman empire. The temple of the Oracle at Dydima was sacked and its pagan priests tortured–many to their deaths. Soon after, a Christian church was built on its foundation.

The final winners of all CNG Feature Auction 126 lots will be determined during the live online sale that will be held on 28-29 May 2024. This lot is in Session Two, which will begin 28 May at 2 PM ET.

Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.

We recognize that our users may have various Internet Browsers and Operating Systems. We like our visitors to have the best possible experience when using our bidding platform. However, we do recognize that it is impossible to develop applications that work identically, efficiently and effectively on all web browsers. The CNG bidding platform supports the latest stable major version and stable previous version of Chrome and Firefox.