SNG Levante Plate Coin

194, Lot: 142. Estimate $200. Sold for $1000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CILICIA, Tarsus. Maximinus I. AD 235-238. Æ 36mm (22.34 g, 12h). Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Hercules standing right, holding club resting on bull’s head, lion skin, and the child Telephus, who leans forward to pet a deer; tree with birds in background. SNG France 1613 (same dies); SNG Levante 1098 (this coin). Good Fine, brown and green patina with some light deposits.

Ex Eduardo Levante Collection (Classical Numismatic Group 66, 19 May 2004), lot 1198.

This charming reverse type depicting Hercules and his son Telephus derives from a 4th century BC Greek sculpture. Roman copies of this work survive, the finest of which is belongs to the Louvre.