84 / 128
82
right. Rx: KOΔPOVΛEΩN - ΔIOC KOTANOVC
Facing bust of a goddess within two-columned tem-
ple with eagle in pediment. Aulock, Pisidien I, 1028
(this coin). RPC 966 (this coin). Good Fine
$800
Ex Empire Coins 8, 7 December 1987, lot 259; ex
R.E. Hecht Collection, published in Num. Chronicle
1968, p. 31, no. 12, pl. X
.
A unique coin from a rare mint, whose only other
known coins from the reign of Decius, as described
by RPC pp. 216-7 and Aulock, Pisidien I, nos.
1025-7 and 1029-30, are three large pieces of
Decius from the same obverse die as our coin but
with a Rhea and Kronos seated reverse, a large
piece of Herennia Etruscilla with the same Rhea
and Kronos reverse type, and two AE 20s of Decius
with reverses Nike and Asklepios. The reverse die
of our coin is highly interesting, firstly because it is
our only evidence for a cult of Zeus with the epithet
Kotanes, who was evidently worshipped and had
a temple at Codrula, and secondly because Aulock
observed that this same reverse die was used over a
span of about forty years at Codrula, being attested
with obverses of a mature, bearded Caracalla;
Elagabalus; Severus Alexander; Maximinus Thrax;
Philip II as Augustus; Trajan Decius (our unique
coin); and Valerian I with Valerian II as Caesar!
A small riddle is why a female bust should be
shown within what was evidently the temple of Zeus
Kotanes at Codrula
.
Decius from Tityassus, Finest of
Two Known Specimens
356.
AE 21-23.5, 7.21g (7h). Tityassus, Pisidia. Obv:
ΑΥ ΚΑΙС [Μ] ΚΥ ΤΡΑΔEΚΙΟΝ EΥ Bust laure-
ate, draped, cuirassed right. Rx: TITV - A - CC[E]
around, ΩN upside down in exergue, Temple with
four columns, snake in pediment. SNG Aulock 8642
(same dies). Aulock, Pisidien II, 2263 and RPC 963
(both recording 2 spec., the Aulock coin and ours).
About EF/EF
$300
Ex Waddell List 64, December 1994, no. 104; ex
CNA 26, 11 June 1993, lot 590; ex Münz Zentrum
Köln 64, 15 April 1988, lot 635
.
The finer of the two known specimens, the other
being SNG Aulock 8642 (same dies). A rare mint,
from which Aulock found only 49 coins with impe-
rial portraits (Hadrian-Herennia Etruscilla), com-
ing from a total of only 16 obverse dies
.
357.
AE 37-39, 32.27g (6h). Mallus, Cilicia. Obv: IMP
CAES CAI ME C[V]IN DECIO TRAIANO SE
(sic) Bust radiate, draped, cuirassed right. Rx: MAL
- LO COLONIA around, FE - [LIX] in exergue, S
- C across field, Togate emperor standing left, offer-
ing small statue of Marsyas to turreted Tyche stand-
ing right, holding cornucopia; at right, Amphilocos
standing left behind yoke of oxen, crowning the
emperor and holding branch; in exergue, boar. SNG
Levante 1291 (same dies). RPC 1433, spec. 4 (this
coin). Planchet defect on obverse at twelve o’clock.
Fine/Fine+
$400
Ex CNG 51, 15 September 1999, lot 943
.
This type occurs in a number of legend varieties.
RPC 1431-1433 lists a total of eighteen specimens,
including ours, that come from two obverse and
three reverse dies
.
Enlargement