Second Known Aqueduct Type from Anazarbus

318, Lot: 432. Estimate $300. Sold for $3000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CILICIA, Anazarbus. Severus Alexander. AD 222-235. Æ (35mm, 22.07 g, 6h). Struck circa AD 229-230. AVT K M AVP CЄOV AΛЄΞANΔP[OC?], laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / ANAZAPB in exergue, arched aqueduct with three towers surrounded by statues of winged Nikai. Ziegler 546 = Price & Trell 46, fig. 81 var. Fine, dark green patina. Only the second known aqueduct type from Anazarbus. Belonging to what Price & Trell considered the “most impressive” of their aqueduct issues.

Ziegler’s die study cites only one coin depicting an aqueduct, now housed in the British Museum. That coin differs in several respects: the obverse legend is slightly different; a lengthier reverse legend (which allowed Ziegler to date the issue to around 229-230) is divided above and below the aqueduct; and a figure of the river–god Pyramus is found in the lower field. Most notably, the details of the aqueduct differ significantly: on the British Museum coin only one tower is depicted, there are no Nikai, the upper level is not stepped, and the arches are only indicated by a single line. Price & Trell note that the type can be directly related to ruins of an aqueduct still standing at Anazarbus, and they surmised that the tower on the British Museum piece may represent a sluice gate.