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Banner Astarte 24
Lot # 264
Egypt. Alexandria. Antoninus Pius, 138-161. Tetradrachm. (Billon, 24.50 mm, 13.43 g). Dated RY 22 = AD 158/9. ANTωN [INOC CЄB Є] YCЄB Laureate bust right. Rev. Draped bust of Zeus right wearing taenia; before, thunderbolt; LK – B (date) in field. RPC IV, 4.2056.10 (this specimen cited). Dattari-Savio Plate 116, 2399 (this coin). Emmett 1439. Very Fine/Good Very Fine. From the Dattari Collection. Ex Naville Numismatics Ltd., Auction 48, 07.04.2019, lot 280. Important tetradrachm from Giovanni Dattari collection, where the portrait on the obverse shows ruthlessly the physical decay of Antoninus Pius two years before his death, while on the reverse we recognize as a philosopher, a wide naked and rather Hellenized bust of the Roman Capitoline Zeus, as confirmed by the beam of lightning to side in the field to the right. Antoninus Pius was in fact Roman-centric unlike the universal culture of Hadrian that embraced the entire territory of the empire, with preference for its eastern part.