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| Classical Numismatic Group > Electronic Auction 610 | Auction date: 3 June 2026 |
| Lot number: 653 Price realized: 400 USD (Approx. 344 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | Show similar lots on CoinArchives Find similar lots in upcoming auctions on  |
| Lot description: PHRYGIA, Prymnessus. temp. Antonine Era. Circa AD 147-169. Æ (16mm, 3.41 g, 6h). Draped bust of King Midas right, wearing Phrygian cap decorated with stars and necklace / River-god Kaystros reclining left, holding reed, resting elbow on water urn from which water flows. von Aulock, Phrygiens 858-68; Rutten, Midas fig. 1; RPC IV.2 Online 1919.17 (this coin). Brown patina, slight roughness and smoothing. Near EF. A superior example of the type. From the Dr. Mark Staal Collection. Midas, the mytho-historical king of Phrygia and Lydia, was granted the so-called "Golden Touch" by Dionysus because the king wished for unending wealth as a reward for his guest-friendship to Silenus. Everything Midas touched turned to gold, including food. Starving and pleading for relief, the king was instructed to bathe in the waters of the river Pactolus. The water removed Midas' "gift" and turned the sand of the river-bed into grains of gold. It was the naturally-occuring ore of the Pactolus that became the source of the metal used in the first archaic electrum coinages of Asia Minor. Estimate: 300 USD |  |
