| Classical Numismatic Group > Electronic Auction 555 | Auction date: 7 February 2024 |
| Lot number: 452 Price realized: 650 USD (Approx. 606 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | Show similar lots on CoinArchives Find similar lots in upcoming auctions on  |
| Lot description: EGYPT, Alexandria. Antoninus Pius. AD 138-161. Æ Drachm (33mm, 26.48 g, 12h). Dated RY 10 (AD 146/7). Laureate head right / Herakles and the Mares of Diomedes – Herakles standing right, club in raised right hand about to strike Diomedes who he holds by the hair, collapsed on one knee; to either side, foreparts of horses reclining; L ΔЄKATOY (date) around. Köln 1541; Dattari (Savio) 2614 (same rev. die); K&G 35.347; RPC IV.4 987; Emmett 1553.10. Red-brown surfaces, minor deposits. Fine. Rare. The four mares of the giant Diomedes, king of the Bistones in Thrace, had a nightmarish taste for human flesh. It was Hercules' task to steal them, and he set about doing so with a cortege including the Locrian youth Abderus, a beloved of the hero, who in the midst of the story is eaten by the horses. Hercules, according to some renderings, was so distraught he fed Diomedes to his own mares in revenge. The Thracian town of Abdera was founded nearby Abderus' grave. Estimate: 750 USD |  |
