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Electronic Auction 475

Lot nuber 42

CRETE, Koinon of Crete. Trajan. AD 98-117. AR Drachm (18mm, 3.08 g, 7h). Antioch (or Tyre?) mint.


Electronic Auction 475
Lot: 42.
 Estimated: $ 150

The McAlee Collection – Augustus to Clodius Albinus, Silver

Sold For $ 550. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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CRETE, Koinon of Crete. Trajan. AD 98-117. AR Drachm (18mm, 3.08 g, 7h). Antioch (or Tyre?) mint. IMP CAES NER TRAIA OPTIM AVG GER DAC PART, laureate bust right, slight drapery on shoulder / Diktynna seated left on rocks, holding uncertain object and the infant Zeus; to either side of her, an armed Curete standing left; ΔIKTYNNA above, KPHT in exergue. RPC III 13; Woytek, Bilinguen 1; Svoronos, Numismatique pl. XXXIII, 23-4; SNG Copenhagen 578; BMC 16. Toned. Fine. Rare.

From the Richard McAlee Collection. Reportedly found in the Levant.



Zeus was the son of the Titans Cronos and Rhea. Cronos, fearing any offspring would usurp his position as principle deity, would swallow each child Rhea gave birth to. Upon the birth of Zeus, however, Rhea tricked Cronos by presenting a swaddled rock in place of the newborn god. Cronos swallowed the rock and Zeus was secretly taken to the island of Crete, where he was reared by nymphs in a cave in Mount Dikte. A popular cult to Zeus Diktaios lasted in the area until the Christian period.

The cult of Diktynna predates Mycanean influence in the region. As a virgin goddess associated with nature and hunting (she is credited with inventing a crucial hunting tool, the net), she naturally became associated with Artemis. In one of ancient myth’s numerous perplexing and anachronistic details, she is often described as being the daughter of Zeus and Karme.

A note from the collector: The style of the obverse is similar to that of Trajan’s Syrian tetradrachms, and this coin may have been struck at the same Syrian mint. The denomination is ambiguous (denarius or drachm?) since the obverse legend is in Latin and the reverse legend is in Greek.

Closing Date and Time: 26 August 2020 at 10:13:40 ET.

All winning bids are subject to an 18% buyer’s fee.