Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Electronic Auction 460 29 Jan 2020
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EGYPT, Alexandria. Antoninus Pius. AD 138-161. Æ Drachm (32mm, 20.67 g, 11h). Zodiac series. Dated RY 8 (AD 144/145). Laureate head right / Jupiter in Sagittarius: Centaur galloping right, drawing bow and arrow, eight-rayed star above his head; above centaur, bust of Jupiter (Zeus) right with slight drapery; [L] H (date) below. Köln 1502; Dattari (Savio) 2974; K&G 35.262; RPC IV.4 Online 14873; Emmett 1693.8. Dark brown surfaces with touches of green, roughness and a few obverse pits. Fine.
Alexandria saw an immense output of coinage during the eighth year of Antoninus Pius's reign. The Zodiac drachms, mythological types, and a host of issues for the nomes appeared that year. One explanation for this activity centers on the celebration of the renewal of the Great Sothic cycle, the point when the star Sothis (Sirius) rises on the same point on the horizon as the sun. This cycle of 1461 years began early in the reign of Pius in AD 139, and apparently prompted a renewal in the ancient Egyptian religion, while the coin types also stressed the connections to the Greco-Roman Pantheon.
Alexandria saw an immense output of coinage during the eighth year of Antoninus Pius's reign. The Zodiac drachms, mythological types, and a host of issues for the nomes appeared that year. One explanation for this activity centers on the celebration of the renewal of the Great Sothic cycle, the point when the star Sothis (Sirius) rises on the same point on the horizon as the sun. This cycle of 1461 years began early in the reign of Pius in AD 139, and apparently prompted a renewal in the ancient Egyptian religion, while the coin types also stressed the connections to the Greco-Roman Pantheon.