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Triton XXIII – Session Three – Roman Imperial Coinage Part II through World Coinage Part I

Lot nuber 802

Caracalla. AD 198-217. Æ (33mm, 15.98 g, 1h). Tarsus (Cilicia) mint.


Triton XXIII – Session Three – Roman Imperial Coinage Part II through World Coinage Part I
Lot: 802.
 Estimated: $ 2 500

Roman Imperial, Bronze

Sold For $ 2 250. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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Caracalla. AD 198-217. Æ (33mm, 15.98 g, 1h). Tarsus (Cilicia) mint. AYT KAI M AYP CЄYHPOC ANTΩNЄINOC CЄB * around, Π-Π to either side, laureate head left / ANT[ΩNIANH]C CЄYH A∆P MHT around, [TA]PCOY in exergue, ∆/ЄK in two lines between Herakles’ legs, Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra – Hercules standing left, lion skin draped over his left arm and holding bow with his left hand, holding club overhead with his right hand and preparing to strike the Lernaean Hydra before him. Voegtli Type 2, pl. 2, q = SNG Levante 1051 (same dies); Ziegler, Münzen Kilikiens 694 (same dies). Dark green and brown surfaces, a bit of bare metal on the high points. Near EF. Very rare and perhaps the finest known.

Ex Nomos 6 (8 May 2012), lot 177; LHS 95 (25 October 2005), lot 832.

For his Second Labor, Hercules had to kill the Lernaean Hydra, the offspring of Typhon and Echidna, and the sibling of the Nemean Lion, the Chimaera, and Kerberos. Inhabiting the swamp near Lake Lerna in the Argolid, the creature possessed numerous mortal and one immortal head on its single body; should one head be removed, two more would grow in its place. When Hercules reached the swamp where the Hydra dwelt, he drew it out of its lair near the spring of Amymone. Thereupon, wielding a harvesting sickle, he attempted to decapitate the creature. When this proved unsuccessful, because of the Hydra’s regenerative ability, Hercules enlisted the assistance of his nephew Iolaos, who devised a plan: once Hercules had cut off one of the creature’s heads, Iolaos would cauterize the stump with a burning firebrand. The plan succeeded, and the Hydra was destroyed. Hercules placed its one immortal head under a large rock on the sacred way between Lerna and Elaius and dipped his arrows in its poisonous blood.

The final winners of all Triton XXIII lots will be determined at the live public sale that will be held on 14-15 January 2020. Triton XXIII – Session Three – Roman Imperial Coinage Part II through World Coinage Part II will be held Wednesday morning, 15 January 2020 beginning at 9:00 AM ET.

Winning bids are subject to a 20% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and in person at the public auction, 22.50% for all others.