EGYPT. Oxyrhynchos. Circa 1st-3rd centuries. Tessera (Lead, 17 mm, 4.37 g, 1 h). Helmeted and cuirassed bust of Athena-Thoeris to right, spear to right. Rev. O/Ξ Nike advancing left, holding wreath in her right hand. Geissen 3518. Emmett 4361 var. (reverse legend ΟΞΥ). An unusually well preserved example. Very fine.



Milne (The Leaden Token-Coinage of Egypt Under The Romans, NC 8 (1908), p. 287-310) has connected these pieces showing Athena to the Middle-Egyptian town of Oxyrhynchos, famed for the massive find of papyri there by Grenfell and Hunt in the late 19th-early 20th century. Athena had a temple dedicated to her in the town and was equated with the Egyptian goddess Thoeris (or Taweret), who served as a local guardian deity.