Anonymous. AE 15

Anonymous; Aenus, Thrace, ca. 2nd-early 3rd cent. AD, AE 15, 2.63g. RPC-IV.1, 4410 (2 spec). Obv: Draped bust of Hermes r. wearing winged petasos; before, caduceus. Rx: ΑΙΝ-ΙΩΝ, Winged caduceus. The recurring motifs associated with Hermes, going all the way back to the first recorded coinage of Aenus in the 5th century BC, refer to the cult of Hermes Perpheraios. As Callimachus reports, Epeus made a wooden Hermes in addition to the Trojan horse, which was placed in the River Scamander in the Troad, washed up at Ainos, and was found by fishermen. A sanctuary was then built, and the oracle of Apollo ordered that Hermes be worshipped as one of their gods. Ex Curtis L. Clay Collection; Ex HJB, Aug. 2018.Highest points of obverse flatly struck. EF