Obverse: Bust of Valerian

Reverse: An athlete holding a prize urn, within a rectangular complex (tem...

Collection: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Context: Cyme
Material: Bronze
Denomination: Medallion
Issuing Authority: Valerian I
Actual Weight: 7.68 g.
Die Axis: 6
Date: exact 253 AD - exact 260 AD
Dimensions: 30 mm.
Region: Aeolis
Period: Third Century A.C.

Obverse Type: Within a dotted circle appears a rectangular complex ("precinct of a temple," according to Head 1911, 554). On top of a wall stands a naked athlete, in 3/4-view to the left, holding a prize urn above his head.

Donor: Theodora Wilbour Fund in Memory of Zoë Wilbour

Commentary: Imperial bronze medallion

Sources Used: BMC Troas, Aeolis, and Lesbos, no. 154, Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Copenhagen, vol. 21, no. 154 (no gamma); Waddington 1904, no. 1310 (without gamma)