Nomos AG
Auction 24 22 May 2022
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
ARGOLIS. Epidauros. Antoninus Pius, 138-161. Diassarion (Bronze, 22.5 mm, 8.24 g, 6 h). ΑΝΤΩN-ΕΙΝΟC ΑΥΓ Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Antoninus Pius to right. Rev. ΑCΚΛΗΠΙ - Ο - Υ ΠΑΙΔΕC Two draped figures (probably both female) standing, facing each other and clasping their right hands. NCP -. RPC -. Apparently unpublished and, presumably, unique. A fascinating coin, with a fascinating reverse type. Very rough surfaces, otherwise, good fine.
From the Maleatas Collection and from the BCD Collection, originally acquired in the 1980s.
Why is this coin here, especially given its condition? The reason is due to the extraordinary reverse inscription accompanying the seemingly banal type of two people clasping hands with each other. We would expect to see figures like that on alliance coins (like those of Laodicea and Smyrna, etc.) , on coins commemorating a marriage (like Caracalla and Plautilla), or on issues for two co-rulers (like Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus); but this is not an alliance coin. Thanks to the help of the Greek epigrapher T. Skoupidiopoulos, we can be sure that the reverse legend reads Ασκληπιου παιδες - children of Asklepios - and that is unexpected, to say the least! But who are these children? Asklepios had five daughters and three sons, so we have quite a few from whom to choose. But it gets easier: one of the sons, Telesphoros was a dwarf, and the other two, Machaon and Podaieirios had virtually nothing to do with Epidauros; as for the daughters, we can be sure that one of the figures simply has to be Hygieia, but who is the other one? Of the remaining four - Panacea, Aces, Iaso and Aegle - it was Panacea, in her own right goddess of universal health, who was the most important; so she is surely the other figure on this reverse.
From the Maleatas Collection and from the BCD Collection, originally acquired in the 1980s.
Why is this coin here, especially given its condition? The reason is due to the extraordinary reverse inscription accompanying the seemingly banal type of two people clasping hands with each other. We would expect to see figures like that on alliance coins (like those of Laodicea and Smyrna, etc.) , on coins commemorating a marriage (like Caracalla and Plautilla), or on issues for two co-rulers (like Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus); but this is not an alliance coin. Thanks to the help of the Greek epigrapher T. Skoupidiopoulos, we can be sure that the reverse legend reads Ασκληπιου παιδες - children of Asklepios - and that is unexpected, to say the least! But who are these children? Asklepios had five daughters and three sons, so we have quite a few from whom to choose. But it gets easier: one of the sons, Telesphoros was a dwarf, and the other two, Machaon and Podaieirios had virtually nothing to do with Epidauros; as for the daughters, we can be sure that one of the figures simply has to be Hygieia, but who is the other one? Of the remaining four - Panacea, Aces, Iaso and Aegle - it was Panacea, in her own right goddess of universal health, who was the most important; so she is surely the other figure on this reverse.