Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Electronic Auction 538 10 May 2023
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PHRYGIA, Laodicea ad Lycum. temp. Philip I. AD 244-249. Æ (26mm, 8.05 g, 6h). Sardis workshop. Draped bust of the Senate right / The rivers Kapros, as a boar, and Lykos, as a wolf, seated facing back to back, facing each other. RPC VIII Online 20778 (this coin cited); BMC 127-9; SNG von Aulock 3832. Porous brown surfaces. Good Fine.
From the Dr. Michael Slavin Collection. Ex Classical Numismatic Group 51 (15 September 1999), lot 914.
It is interesting to note that most river gods are depicted as themselves, often reclining in the exergue, below the primary scene on the reverse of the coin, other times, as the primary focus of the reverse. But it is rare to see them anthropomorphized as we do here. The two rivers which flow through this city are the Lykos, or Wolf River, and the Kapros, or Wild Boar River, and our river gods are depicted as these two animals, attributes the local inhabitants and travelers would have understood well.
From the Dr. Michael Slavin Collection. Ex Classical Numismatic Group 51 (15 September 1999), lot 914.
It is interesting to note that most river gods are depicted as themselves, often reclining in the exergue, below the primary scene on the reverse of the coin, other times, as the primary focus of the reverse. But it is rare to see them anthropomorphized as we do here. The two rivers which flow through this city are the Lykos, or Wolf River, and the Kapros, or Wild Boar River, and our river gods are depicted as these two animals, attributes the local inhabitants and travelers would have understood well.