EGYPT. Alexandria. Hadrian, 117-138. Obol (Bronze, 19 mm, 5.77 g, 12 h), Memphite nome, RY 11 = 126/7. ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙ ΤΡΑΙ ΑΔΡΙΑ ϹЄΒ Laureate head of Hadrian to right, with slight drapery on his left shoulder. Rev. MЄΜΦΙ L IA Isis standing front, head to left, wearing basileion set on vulture headdress, holdung uraeus in her right hand and statue of Ptah in her left. Dattari 6299 = RPC III online 6390.22 (this coin). Emmett 1246.22. K&G N29.8. Rare and unusually attractive. Minor pitting, otherwise, very fine.


This coin forms part of the 'nome coinage', struck under several emperors starting from Domitian and ending with Antoninus Pius. The division of Egypt into nomes (smaller districts) had its roots in the pharaonic administration, but continued to be used in the Graeco-Roman period. On the reverse of the obols struck by Hadrian (probably for the emperor's decennalia), the respective nomes are identified through the legend and a local deity is depicted.

This coin was struck for the Memphite nome, which of course housed the grand city of Memphis, whose history reached back to the Old Kingdom. Though the city is often associated with Ptah or Serapis, on our coin, Isis is depicted, no doubt in her capacity as the mother of the Apis bull. This cult involved the veneration of holy cows, which, just like the Apis bulls, were interred in sacred catacombs on the Saqqara plateau after their death. The coin also references the cult of Ptah, the god of crafts and metalworking, two things Memphis was famous for in Antiquity.