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Lot 66. Severus Alexander AE26, Isinda

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Cult-busts of Serapis and Isis
Severus Alexander AE26, Isinda

Time left:
Bidding closed (Sunday, April 24th, 19:33:00 CEST)
Current time: Monday, November 25th, 05:54:26 CET

Price realised: CHF 300.00 (1 bid)
Approx. EUR 322.26 / USD 335.73 / GBP 267.93

High bidder: Bidder 1

eAuction #47, Lot 66. Estimate: CHF 375.00

Severus Alexander, as Caesar (222 AD). AE26 (11.21 g), Isinda, Pisidia.
Obv. AYPHΛI AΛЄΞANΔPON KAI, bare-headed bust to right, heroically nude but for Aegis.
Rev. ICINΔЄΩN, draped cult-busts of Serapis, wearing kalathos, and Isis, wearing lotus flower, vis à vis on ground line.
Von Aulock Pisidien I, 838-9 (same dies). SNG Paris -. SNG Copenhagen -. SNG von Aulock -.

Extremely rare, Aulock knew just two specimens. Very fine.

From the François Righetti Collection, ex CNG EA220 (2009), 317 and that of his brother Jean-Pierre, Münzen & Medaillen GmbH 16 (2005), 770.

This really is a two-sided coin in as much as that both the obverse and reverse are highly interesting. We are looking at a 13-year old prince that is depicted not as a child but as a strong and muscular heros, with the aegis bound around his neck further emphasizing his divine traits. The reverse, however, shows us the cult-busts of both Serapis and his wife Isis, two Egyptian deities whose worship had soon spread all over the Roman empire, too. It is very rare to find such a depiction of cult-busts rather than cult-statues, making this a highly unusual coin.



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