★ Rare Mythological Type ★

Trebonianus Gallus. AD 251-253. Æ (21.5mm, 3.13 g, 12h). Alexandria Troas mint. I[MP] VIB TREB GALLVS [AV], laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / [CO] L AV G around, [T]ROAD in exergue, tripod; to right, Apollo, nude to the waist, seated left, holding arrows with his extended right hand, his left hand rests on seat; to left, the priest Krinis, nude to the waist, seated right; at his feet, forepart of hound sniffing the ground; between Apollo and Krinis, the herdsman Orodes standing right, holding pedum; above, uncertain animal pierced by arrow. RPC IX 413 (same dies as illustrated specimen); Bellinger A402; A.R. Bellinger, “The Late Bronze of Alexandria Troas,” ANSMN 8 (1958), Type 20, pl. VII, 20; SNG Hunter 1289. Attractive dark green patina, some peripheral striking weakness and adjustment marks. EF. Rare mythological type. The authors of RPC cite only ten specimens, all struck from the same pair of dies.

The reverse represents the reconciliation between Apollo Smintheus and his priest Krinis, both enjoying the hospitality of the herdsman Orodes. According to the local legend ( Iliad I. 39), Apollo, angered at his priest, sent a plague of mice to devastate the crops, but later repenting, he appeared to Orodes the herdsman who hospitably received him, and Apollo promised to kill the mice with his arrows. The animal represented on this coin, which is pierced by an arrow, could represent one of the mice.