EGYPT, Alexandria. Trajan. AD 98-117. Æ Drachm (34mm, 21.92 g, 11h). Diospolis Magna Nome. Dated RY 2 (AD 98/9).

Electronic Auction 511
Lot: 283. Estimated: $ 500

Roman Provincial, Bronze

Sold For $ 1 500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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EGYPT, Alexandria. Trajan. AD 98-117. Æ Drachm (34mm, 21.92 g, 11h). Diospolis Magna Nome. Dated RY 2 (AD 98/9). Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind / Heron, radiate and haloed, riding right, head facing, wearing military dress, holding reins with left hand, patera in right, feeding serpent wrapped around tree; L IB (date) in exergue. Köln –; Dattari (Savio) –; K&G N10.2; RPC III 6299; Emmett –. Brown patina, light roughness, a few small scratches. Fine. Extremely rare, four known to RPC, the second in private hands.

Heron, the so-called “Thracian Rider”, was a demigod who’s origin can be traced to Thrace and Moesia in the fourth century BC. The oldest monuments to him can be found in lower Moesia, in the Greco-Roman settlements on the western shore of the Black Sea, his cult eventually moving south to Egypt. Inscriptions and iconography of the time identified him with Asclepius (as seen with the serpent on this coin), Apollo, Horus, and other similar dieties. He bore the epithets “soter” (savior), “iatros” (healer), and “megas theos” (great god), the last in the Thracian city of Odessus. Heron is the same “Great God of Odessus”, also known as Darzalas, as is commonly seen on the coins of that city.

Closing Date and Time: 9 March 2022 at 11:34:00 ET.

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