EGYPT, Alexandria. Antoninus Pius. AD 138-161. Æ Drachm (33mm, 24.89 g, 12h). Labors of Herakles series. Dated RY 10 (AD 146/7). VF.

Triton XXIX
Lot: 597. Estimated: $ 750

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

Sold For $ 3 250. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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EGYPT, Alexandria. Antoninus Pius. AD 138-161. Æ Drachm (33mm, 24.89 g, 12h). Labors of Herakles series. Dated RY 10 (AD 146/7). AYT K T AIΛ A∆P ANTωNINOC CЄB ЄVC, laureate head right / Herakles and the Nemean Lion – Herakles standing left, holding the Nemean Lion by its neck and jaws with both hands and raising it up off of the ground; to right, club; L ∆Є KATOV (date) around. Köln 1535 var. (Herakles standing right); Dattari (Savio) 2594; K&G 35.351 var. (same); RPC IV.4 992.10 = Carl W.A. Carlson, “Rarities 4 – The Labors of Hercules Series” in SAN Journal IV.4 (1972/3), p. 63, no. 6 (this coin); Emmett 1556.10 (R5). Dark brown surfaces, light smoothing, edge splits. VF. Rare with left facing Herakles.

From the Dr. Thomas E. Beniak Collection. Ex Auctiones AG 27 (10 December 1996), lot 463; Johns Hopkins University Collection [inv. 83.126] (Part I, Bank Leu & Numismatic Fine Arts, 16 May 1984), lot 801.

For his first labor, Herakles was to slay the Nemean Lion and bring back its skin. The Nemean Lion, called thus as it had been terrorizing the area around Nemea, had a skin so thick that it was impenetrable to weapons. After making futile attempts to subdue it with his weapons, Herakles cast them aside and wrestled the lion to the ground, eventually killing it by thrusting his arm down its throat and choking it to death. Skinning the beast was no easy task, either. After Herakles spent hours trying unsuccessfully to skin the lion, Athena, in the guise of an old crone, appeared to him, and convinced him to use the creature’s own claws to cut the hide. Thereafter, the hide became the hero’s own impenetrable armor. When Eurystheus saw Herakles wearing his new fearsome outfit, he hid in a large bronze jar, and thenceforth commanded the hero through a herald.

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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