| Roma Numismatics Ltd > E-Sale 118 | Auction date: 8 April 2024 |
| Lot number: 1034 Price realized: Unsold | Show similar lots on CoinArchives Find similar lots in upcoming auctions on  |
| Lot description: Septimius Severus Æ 30mm of Sebastopolis-Heracleopolis, Pontus. Dated CY 208 = AD 205/6. [AY KAI] Λ CЄ[ΠTI C]ЄOVHΡOC A, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust to right / ϹЄΒΑϹΤΟΠΟ ΗΡ(ligate)ΑΚΛЄΟΠΟ Π in four lines above Herakles, nude, reclining to left on lion skin, his legs crossed, right hand on his knee; in field to left, horizontal club; ЄΤ ΗϹ (date) below. M. Amandry-B. Rémy, Les monnaies de l'atelier de Sébastopolis du Pont, 18 (D5 R13); Burstein 524; Peus Nachfolger, 366, 524. 11.36g, 30mm, 5h. Near Very Fine. Extremely Rare; only one other example on CoinArchives. The city's name Sebastopolis comes from Greek 'σεβαστός' (the equivalent of the Latin 'augustus') and 'πόλις' ('city'), so it perhaps commemorates its foundation under Augustus, although this is uncertain. The city also recognised a mythical founder. Heracleopolis ('the city of Herakles'), attested on Greek historian Arrian's dedication in AD 137, makes plain the city's devotion to Herakles. The name must have been in high fashion when Commodus was called 'Hercules Romanus', and Herakles's cult furnishes nearly all of the coin types after Septimius Severus. Estimate: 50 GBP |  |
