BITHYNIA, Nicaea. Geta. As Caesar, AD 198-209. Æ (25.5mm, 10.10’ g, 6h).

Electronic Auction 473
Lot: 186. Estimated: $ 75

Roman Provincial, Bronze

Sold For $ 160. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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BITHYNIA, Nicaea. Geta. As Caesar, AD 198-209. Æ (25.5mm, 10.10’ g, 6h). Bareheaded and draped bust right / Hercules standing right, holding a club overhead with his right hand, grasping one of the heads of the Lernaean Hydra with his left hand, and the Hydra has its main body wrapped around Hercules’ right leg. RG 512. Dark green patina with a patch of red corrosion on each side, some smoothing/cleaning marks. Fine. Very rare, none in CoinArchives.

Ex David Wray Collection.

For his Second Labor, Herakles 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 Herakles 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, Herakles enlisted the assistance of his nephew Iolaos, who devised a plan: once Herakles 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. Herakles 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.

Closing Date and Time: 29 July 2020 at 11:01:40 ET.

All winning bids are subject to an 18% buyer’s fee.