EGYPT, Alexandria. Marcus Aurelius. AD 161-180. Æ Drachm (34mm, 31.68 g, 12h). Dated RY 6 (AD 165/6). Near VF.

Keystone 17 – The W. Toliver Besson Collection
Lot: 208. Estimated: $ 1 500

Roman Provincial, Bronze

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

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EGYPT, Alexandria. Marcus Aurelius. AD 161-180. Æ Drachm (34mm, 31.68 g, 12h). Dated RY 6 (AD 165/6). Laureate bust left, drapery on right shoulder / Pylon of the temple of Osiris containing a facing canopus jar in entranceway at top of a tall flight of stairs; between towers, eagle standing facing, head left, with wings displayed; L ϛ (date) across field. Köln –; Dattari (Savio) 3568; K&G 37.279; RPC IV.4 2900.4 (this coin); Emmett 2099 (R4). Earthen green surfaces. Near VF. Very rare architectural type that is only recorded for this year.

From the W. Toliver Besson Collection. Ex Classical Numismatic Group Electronic Auction 294 (16 January 2013), lot 509.

The canopic jar gets its name for the port city of Canopus in the Delta. Kanopus was also the name of the pilot of Menelaos’s ship in The Iliad, and it is uncertain whether the city’s demotic name was hellenized to Canopus to reflect the Homeric myth, or whether Homer adopted the maritime name from the city. In any case the Egyptian god Osiris was worshiped in Canopus in the specific form of a jar or reliquary, and the name became attached by Egyptologists to the four jars used to hold the viscera of the mummified dead, as well as the cult objects associated with Osiris and Isis.

Closing Date and Time: 22 July 2026 at 11:09:00 ET.



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