CARIA. Cnidus. Caracalla, with Plautilla, 198-217. Tetrassarion (Bronze, 27 mm, 11.51 g, 6 h), 202-205. [AY K M] ANTΩ[NINOC / ΦOYPBIA ΠΛΑΥΤΙΛΛΑ] Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Caracalla, on the left, facing draped bust of Plautilla. Rev. [KNIΔΙΩN] Praxiteles’ Cnidian Aphrodite, covering her nudity and holding drapery that falls behind amphora, facing Asklepios standing facing, holding serpent-entwined staff in his right hand. SNG Keckmann 218. SNG München 333. Minor deposits on the obverse and with old edge chipping, otherwise, fine.


This interesting issue shows Praxiteles' Cnidian Aphrodite, credited as being the first statue to show the body of a Greek goddess in the nude. The story goes that the artist was commissioned by the Coans to sculpt the statue, but upon seeing that the goddess was nude, the Coans refused to display it, and it was purchased by the Cnidians instead. In Cnidus, the sculpture was housed in a temple which still stands today, and it quickly developed into a prime tourist attraction, noted for arousing the passions of its male visitors. Although the original is now lost, Cnidus' coins, along with the many copies made throughout the Graeco-Roman period, give us an impression of what the statue must have looked like