RPC III, 4430.1

 

Image of specimen #1

 

Coin type
Volume III
Number 4430.1
Province Egypt
Region Egypt
City Alexandria
Reign Trajan
Person (obv.) Trajan (Augustus)
Issue L ΙΓ = year 13
Dating AD 109/10
Obverse inscription ΑΥΤ ΤΡΑΙΑΝ ϹΕΒ ΓΕΡΜ ΔΑΚΙΚ
Nominative Imperator Traianus Augustus Germanicus Dacicus
Obverse design laureate bust of Trajan, right, draped and cuirassed, seen from rear
Reverse inscription L ΙΓ
Reverse design Sarapis seated, left, holding sceptre; to left, small Cerberus; to left, Demeter standing facing, holding torch; to left, kneeling figure; to right, Hermes standing, left, holding caduceus; above, two Nikai (?) holding bust (?)
Metal copper-based alloy
Average diameter 35 mm
Axis 12
Specimens 1 (1 in the core collections)
Note The identification of the scene is not easy. The standing figure to the left should be Demeter (veiled, kalathos, torch) and that to the right, Hermes (caduceus; or possibly Hermanubis?); the seated figure looks like Zeus or Sarapis; he wears nothing on his head (which would suggest Zeus), but the two Nikai seem to be holding an object such as a kalathos that they are placing on his head, thus making Sarapis seem more likely (two Nikai hold a bust of Sarapis in a similar pose on coins of year 15); on the other hand, Emmett (in litt.) interprets the marks above the head of Sarapis, not as Nikai with a bust) but as an atef crown. There is a kneeling figure to the far left; between Demeter and the seated figure is what seems to be a small Cerberus (most visible on the Aiello specimen): if correctly identified then it would confirm the identity of the figure as Sarapis.
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Specimens of this coin type

Number Number Museum Bibliography
1 1     ✸ NY: 1944.100.56267