Struck the Year of the Renewal of the Sothic Cycle

216, Lot: 415. Estimate $300. Sold for $470. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

EGYPT, Alexandria. Antoninus Pius. AD 138-161. BI Tetradrachm (24mm, 9.25 g, 12h). Dated RY 2 (AD 138/9). Laureate head right / Phoenix standing right; AIωN above, L - B (date) across fields. Köln 1290-1; cf. Dattari (Savio) 2430; K&G 35.2. Good VF, a little porous. Rare.

AD 139 marked the renewal of the Great Sothic Cycle, a cycle of 1461 years beginning when the star Sothis (Sirius) rises on the same point on the horizon as the sun.