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Important copyright information:
The data below is presented by permission of the copyright holder(s). Reproduction is allowed only by authorization from Classical Numismatic Group.
| Classical Numismatic Group > Auction 55 | Auction date: 13 September 2000 |
| Lot number: 937 | |
| Lot description: THRACE, Hadrianopolis. Gordian III. 238-244 AD. Æ 30 mm (12.98 gm). Radiate draped bust right / Veiled woman standing facing, head left, between two nude men, at left holding a patera, and at right wearing a chlaina or chlamys; two recumbent river deities flank them, each holding a reed; a larger river god is recumbent right, in the exergue. SNG Copenhagen -; BMC Thrace -; Mionnet Supp. II pg. 332, 798. VF, green-black patina, full strike. Very Rare. ($500) Mionnet does not venture an explanation of this scene. However, other authors cite the existence of coins featuring the trio of Telesphoros, Asclepios, and Hygeiea. This explanation is quite plausible, as Hygieia often appears veiled. A certain degree of ambiguity exists, which may have been intentional. The scene could also represent a meeting of genii, and has parallels to the positioning of the Three Graces or Charites. Vermeule states that a number of improbable combinations of deities exist on coinage as a result of alliances between provinces. "Numismatic Art of the Greek Imperial World" p.34. The river deities are three in number, the smaller two flanking the main motif, and the larger reclining in the exergue, a rather central location. Hadrianopolis is located at the confluence of the Tonsos and Hebrus (Meric/Ebros) rivers. It is possible that the large river deity represents the confluence of the two lesser rivers as a unity. |  |
