Nomos 21

EGYPT. Alexandria. Mid 1st - 2nd century CE. Gaming Counter (Bone, 30 mm, 4.88 g, 6 h). Left hand, with palm facing and in bas relief, with outstretched thumb, raised index finger and the remaining three fingers curled over to form a partial fist, all on flat, smooth field within a depressed circular border with a raised rim. Rev. III (incised), on a flat field. E. Alföldi-Rosenbaum, The Finder Calculus in Antiquity and in the Middle Ages, FrühMitAltSt 5 1971, p. 5, III and pl. I, 3. A. Mlasowsky, Die antiken Tesseren im Kestner-Museum Hannover cf. 142-143. Very rare and a most intriguing item. Minor marks and an ancient abrasion on the reverse, otherwise, about extremely fine.

From the APCW Collection, USA, acquired at the TEFAF in 1997, ex Sternberg XXVII, 7-8 November 1994, 648.