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Search Advanced Search Search By Coin ID     Home ANCIENT/BYZANTINE Ancient Spain (872) Byzantine (753) MEDIEVAL/EARLY WORLD Germany (30) MODERN WORLD COUNTERFEITS AND IMITATIONS   Submit New Coin(s)   Sponsors page Terms of Service Contact Us About Us FAQ Page Coin Detail Click here to see enlarged image. ID:     721155      [UNVERIFIED] Type:     Roman Provincial Region:     MYSIA City:     Apollonia ad Rhyndacum Issuer:     Marcus Aurelius Date Ruled:     AD 161-180 Metal:     Bronze Denomination:     Medallion Struck / Cast:     struck Date Struck:     AD 161-180 Diameter:     36 mm Weight:     34.12 g Die Axis:     8 h Obverse die reference:     SNG France 99 Reverse die reference:     SNG France 99 Obverse Legend:     AV KAI M AVPH ANTΩNEINOC Obverse Description:     Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind Reverse Legend:     ΑΠΟΛΛΟΝΙΑΤΩΝ ΠΡOC ΡVNΔA K Δ Reverse Description:     Apollo standing facing, pointing to head and being crowned by Artemis standing left; to left of Apollo, filleted and serpent-entwined tripod Primary Reference:     SNG France 99 (same dies) Reference2:     SNG Cop - Reference3:     SNG VA - Photograph Credit:     Classical Numismatic Group Source:     http://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=84923 Grade:     Good VF, black-green patina, minor roughness Notes:     Sale: CNG 72, Lot: 1155 Very rare. Ex Numismatica Ars Classica 21 (17 May 2001), lot 477.What the reverse of this issue commemorates is rather perplexing. One obvious possibility is the Pythian Games, held during the reign of Marcus Aurelius in AD 162, 166, 174, and 178. The evidence for such a conclusion is largely circumstantial. The serpent Python entwined about the Delphic tripod makes it quite clear that this is the Pythian Apollo; his being crowned would support an association with the Games. However, the god is being crowned by his twin sister Artemis, who has no known association with the games. Another possibility is that this reverse refers to some special “victory” of the city. Apollo would be an appropriate allusion to his namesake city. The Artemis here, however, is not the later Olympian version of the goddess, but the much older, Anatolian mother-goddess, whose cult site at Ephesus, the Artemision, went back to the late Bronze Age. Therefore, rather than the god’s more well-known sister, the reverse may depict the chief-goddess of western Asia Minor recognizing one of her regional centers represented here by Apollo.

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