★ Superb provenance ★
EGYPT, Alexandria: Antoninus Pius (138-161), Billon tetradrachm, issued RY 11 = AD 147/8. 12.4g, 23.3mm.
Obv: Laureate bust right.
Rev: L ENDEKATOV, Elpis standing left, lifting hem of skirt and holding flower.
Dattari-Savio 8160; Emmett 1383.11; RPC Online 13607
From the zumbly collection; ex Robert L. Grover Collection of Roman-Egyptian Coinage, previously held by the Art Institute of Chicago (accession #1981.461); ex Giovanni Dattari Collection
"Grover approached coins as primary sources: as political propaganda by Roman emperors, as reflections of the religions of the day, and as historical documents picturing structures destroyed in antiquity. The collection was catalogued by Theresa Gross-Diaz in the early 1980s.” (from Karen B. Alexander [2012] “From Plaster to Stone: Ancient Art at the Art Institute of Chicago.”
Giovanni Dattari assembled what was undoubtedly the best ever collection of Imperial-era Alexandrian coins in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; see Lucia Carbone, “Giovanni Dattari and His Fabled Collection of Alexandrian Coins,” ANS Journal (Issue 2, 2018), pp. 6-27.