Ave!

Phrygia, Cotiaeum, Trajan with Statue of Artemis reverse, RARE!

Æ; 15mm/2.6gm  -- Magistrate: Claudius Varus (archon for the second time)

Con/ Well centered, dark brown patina, complete legend and recognizable portrait of Trajan on the obverse. Some corrosion on the reverse, otherwise, about Very Fine.

Obv/ ΑΥ ΝΕΡ ΤΡΑΙΑΝΟC Α P; laureate head of Trajan, right.

Rev/ ΕΠΙ ΟΥΑΡΟΥ ΚΟΤΙΑΕΩΝ; cult statue of Artemis Ephesia facing, veiled and wearing mural crown, with supports to either side.

Ref/ RPC III 2631 var. (obverse legend and weight), BMC 41–2 var. (same)

Seller's Note/ Any number of cities in Provincial Asia struck Trajan coins similar to ours, but issues from the city of Cotiaeum are exceedingly rare. So scarce, in fact, that even RPC exhibits no photo. This is a great opportunity to purchase a coin for your collection that no one else has!

The Artemis of Ephesus statue is a distinct Greco-Roman sculpture, associated with the Temple of Artemis in ancient Ephesus, that represents a mother goddess of fertility rather than the classical goddess of the hunt. It is characterized by an elaborate gown covered in animals, such as bulls, lions, and stags, a towering headdress often including a mural crown, and a distinctive row of pendants on its chest that are interpreted by scholars as symbols of fertility like bulls' testicles or eggs, rather than breasts.