EGYPT. Alexandria. Antoninus Pius, 138-161. Drachm (Bronze, 34 mm, 23.90 g, 12 h), RY 10 = 146/7. AYT K T AIΛ AΔP ANTⲰNЄINOC Laureate head of Antoninus Pius to right. Rev. L ΔЄKATOY Herakles and the Apples of the Hesperides: Herakles standing right, reaching with his right hand for the Apples of the Hesperides hanging from branch of tree to right, and holding lion’s skin and club over his left shoulder; to right, tree with the serpent Ladon coiled around the trunk, an arrow pierced through its neck. Dattari (Savio) 2604 & 8495-6. Emmett 1554.10. K&G 35.354. RPC IV.4 980. Rare. Well centered and struck, a beautiful example of this iconic reverse type. A few faint scratches on the reverse, otherwise, very fine.


For his eleventh labor, Herakles was commanded by the cowardly Eurystheus to retrieve the Apples of the Hesperides, golden fruits that Gaia had gifted to Hera on her wedding day. These apples were tended by the Hesperides - nymphs said to be either the daughters of Atlas or Nyx - and guarded by the monstrous, hundred-headed serpent Ladon. In one version of the myth (Apollonius 4.1396-1405), Herakles slew Ladon with arrows dipped in the venom of the Lernaean Hydra, much to the despair of the nymphs. In another account, Herakles persuaded Atlas to fetch the apples while he temporarily bore the weight of the sky on his shoulders. Regardless of the method, after Herakles delivered the apples to Eurystheus, Athena returned them to their rightful place. On this beautiful coin, the narrative clearly favors the more violent version of the myth, albeit with a notable modification: Ladon is depicted with only a single head.