EGYPT, Alexandria. Antoninus Pius. AD 138-161. Æ Drachm (33.5mm, 25.11 g, 12h). Dated RY 5 (AD 141/2). Near VF.

Triton XXIX
Lot: 578. Estimated: $ 2 000

The Beniak Collection of Alexandrian Coinage, Bronze, Coin-in-Hand Video

Sold For $ 2 250. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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EGYPT, Alexandria. Antoninus Pius. AD 138-161. Æ Drachm (33.5mm, 25.11 g, 12h). Dated RY 5 (AD 141/2). AVT K T AIΛ A∆P ANTωNINOC CЄB ЄVC, laureate head right / Plowman (constellation Boötes?), wearing short kirtle (tunic) and pileus, holding goad in raised right hand, sowing with bag of seeds in left, driving team of oxen left; L Є (date) in exergue. Köln 1407; Dattari (Savio) 2985; K&G 35.153; RPC IV.4 526.8 (this coin); Emmett 1639.5 (R4). Smooth brown patina with traces of green, light porosity and scratches. Near VF. Very rare.

From the Dr. Thomas E. Beniak Collection. Ex Stein A. Evensen Collection (Classical Numismatic Group 115, 16 September 2020), lot 491; Collection CR (Classical Numismatic Group 85, 15 September 2010), lot 714.

The Great Sothic Cycle was a calendrical cycle based on the heliacal rising in July of the star Sirius (known to the Greeks as Sothis) and lasting approximately 1460 years. According to ancient Egyptian mythology, in a Golden Age, the beginning of the flooding of the Nile coincided exactly with the rising of Sirius, which was reckoned as the New Year. Only once every 1460 years did Sirius rise at exactly the same time. Thus, the coincidence of this along with the concurrent beginning of the flooding of the Nile gave the event major cosmological significance by heralding not just the beginning of a new year, but the beginning of a new eon. This event also was thought to herald the appearance of the phoenix, a mythological bird which was reborn every 500 to 1000 years out of its own ashes. According to one version of the myth, each new phoenix embalmed its old ashes in an egg of myrrh, which it then deposited in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis. So important was the advent of the new Great Sothic Cycle, both to the realignment of the heavens and its signaling of the annual flooding of the Nile, that the Egyptians celebrated it in a five-day festival, which emphasized the important cosmological significance.

In the third year of the reign of Antoninus Pius (AD 139/140), a new Great Sothic Cycle began. To mark this event, the mint of Alexandria struck an extensive series of coinage, especially in large bronze drachms, each related in some astrological way to the reordering of the heavens during the advent of the new Great Sothic Cycle. By the time that these coins were issued, the Egyptian names for the various constellations had been replaced by those more familiar to the Greeks and Romans. Among the issues struck during this time was this extremely rare type depicting a plowman, which may refer to the constellation Boötes, the mythological figure who invented the plow. Since the appearance of Sirius heralded the beginning of the Nile’s flooding, which deposited a rich alluvial layer of mud on the fields, necessary for the growing of grain, the inclusion of the constellation associated with the originator of the plow would have made perfect sense, given the agricultural significance of the Great Sothic Cycle and the importance of Egypt in providing grain to the rest of the empire.

The final winners of all Triton XXIX lots will be determined at the live public sale that will be held on 13-14 January 2026.

Triton XXIX – Session Two – Lot 302-613 will be held Tuesday afternoon, 13 January 2026 beginning at 2:00 PM ET.

Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.

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