cf RPC III, -- 1550 Trajan; same SNG France 1272; BMC Mysia -, SNG BnF -, SNG Cop Obv. AΔIANOC KAICAP Laureate and cuirassed bust of Hadrian right Rev. ΛΑΜΨΑΚΗΝωΝ ithyphallic Priapus standing left, right hand raised, left hand on hip 1.55 gr 15 mm 6h Note. Priapus or Priapos was a minor rustic fertility god, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens and male genitalia. Priapus is marked by his absurdly oversized permanent erection, which gave rise to the medical term priapism. He became a popular figure in Roman erotic art and Latin literature, and is the subject of the often humorously obscene collection of verse called the Priapeia. Statues of Priapus were sometimes placed on boundaries and hung with signs which threatened sexual assault on trespassers.
Congrats Okidoki , nice catch of this rare Hadrian /Priapus coin. Priapus probably based on the Egyptian god Min.
Here's one from another town and a later emperor: AE17 Septimius Severus (193-211). Moesia Inferior, Nicopolis ad Istrum. AV KAI CE CEVHΡOC. NIKOPOLI TWN [PROCIC]. 17 mm, 2.41 gr. Moushmov 987. Wildwinds (same obverse die?). AMNG I 1380; SNG Copenhagen –; Varbanov 2490.
I toyed with the idea of collecting a set of all known ithyphallic Priapus issues but other interests pushed the idea down the list. I still keep an eye out for interesting examples though and that Hadrian is certainly interesting! MYSIA, Lampsacus. Trebonianus Gallus CE 251-253; Sossios, strategos AE 23 mm, 5.3 gm Obv: ΑVΤ Κ ΟVΙΒ ΤΡ ΓΑΛΛΟϹ; laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right Rev: ΛΑΝΨΑΚΗΝ ЄΠΙ ϹΤΡ ϹΟϹϹΙΟV; ithyphallic Priapus standing left on base, holding filleted thyrsus and pouring cantharus over altar Ref: RPC IX 394. Very rare. MOESIA INFERIOR, Nikopolis ad Istrum. Elagabalus AE 18 mm, 2.8 gm Obv: AVT K M AVP ANTΩNINOC, laureate, draped, cuirassed bust right Rev: NIKOΠOΛITΩ NΠPOCICTPO N, Priapus standing left, drawing back his cloak to expose his phallus, bowl of fruit balanced on phallus, right hand extended pouring from patera Ref: Varbanov 3811, AMNG 2022 (I own neither of those references and cannot verify the numbers) MOESIA INFERIOR, Nikopolis ad Istrum Julia Domna, Augusta AE 22 mm, 4.5 gm Obv: IOVΛIA ΔOMNA CEBAC; draped bust right Rev: NIKOΠOΛITΩN ΠPOC ICT; ithyphallic Priapus standing right Ref: Varbanov 2858
