Sardeis (AD 250) AE 41

Mid-3rd cent AD. AE41 - Medallion (25.50g, 12h). Aurelius Rufinus, first archon for the second time. MHTPOΠΟΛIC CAPΔIC ·ACIAC· ΛVΔIAC· EΛΛAΔOC· A·, veiled and draped bust of Tyche right, wearing mural crown / EΠI AVP POV[Φ]EINOV APX T(o) B CAPΔIANΩN B NEΩKOPΩN, ZEVC LVΔIOC across inner fields, Zeus Lydius seated left on high throne, holding Nike in right hand and sceptre in left, surrounded by zodiacal wheel border. Good VF, red and brown patina with green overtones. Very rare.

In Treasures of Ancient Coinage: From the Private Collections of ANS Members, Catharine Lorber catalogued a coin of Maximinus I Thrax from Anchialus in Thrace with a very similar reverse type (see p. 121, no. 110). Lorber summarized the type as "...a symbolic map of the cosmos. Zeus, chief of the gods, is the central figure... Surrounding this scene is a broad band containing the twelve signs of the zodiac. The entire design reflects the common belief of 3rd century Romans that their lives were shaped by higher powers. This schema and variations on it were employed by numerous mints for different emperors from the mid-2nd through the mid-3rd centuries."