171, Lot: 43. Estimate $100. Sold for $261. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

EGYPT, Alexandria. Hadrian. AD 117-138. Æ Drachm (34mm, 22.56 g). Dated RY 12 (AD 127/8). Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / Nilus reclining left, holding cornucopiae with small Genius, leaning against a crocodile, papyrus plant behind; IV above, date below. Köln 991; Milne 1266; Emmett 1014. VF, brown patina, rubbed at high points.

The numeral 16 represents 16 cubits on the Nilometer, the gauge that measured the annual flood crest of the Nile, that figure being the ideal point for the agriculture of the Nile valley. Lower than 16 cubits brought the danger of drought conditions, much higher and there was the possibility of damaging floods.