Mars in Scorpio

Triton XXI, Lot: 126. Estimate $5000. Sold for $7000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

EGYPT, Alexandria. Antoninus Pius. AD 138-161. Æ Drachm (35mm, 21.87 g, 11h). Zodiac series. Dated RY 8 (AD 144/145). AVT K T AIΛ A∆P ANTω[NINOC] CЄB ЄVC, laureate head right / Mars in Scorpio – Helmeted and cuirassed bust facing, head left, of Ares (Mars); before, star of eight rays; to either side, L H (date); beneath all, scorpion left. Köln 1500; Dattari (Savio) 2972; K&G 35.264 corr. (incorrect obv. legend given, illustrated example is Dattari 2971); Emmett 1460.8 (R4 – rev. of this coin illustrated on p. 74A); Staffieri, Alexandria In Nummis 147 (this coin). VF, attractive brown and dark green patina. Rare. Exceptional surfaces and comparable to the specimen we sold in Triton XX in 2017 for $6500 on the hammer.

From the Giovanni Maria Staffieri Collection. Ex Numismatic Fine Arts Fall Mail Bid Sale (18 October 1990), lot 2400.