Ancient Rome Antoninus Pius Labor of Hercules 138AD to 161AD

This coin of Roman Emperor Antonius Pius has two colossal elements. The first is of the super strength and fame of Hercules, the mythological Greek demi-god depicted on the coin's reverse. He was assigned what are called the 12 Labors of Hercules, and on this coin, it depicts his Second Labor, fighting the Lernaean Hydra, a snake like creature with multiple heads. On the other side of the coin is the bust of Emperor Antonius Pius.

Assembling a set of Herculean Labors would be an intriquing and challenging project for any collector of ancient Roman coins. Here are a few examples of other 'Labors' beside the Hydra:

All of these coins are valuable and highly sought by collectors. A complete collection would be valuable, indeed.

The second 'colossal element' of the subject Hydra coin is its value. As far as we know, only a few coins still exist. Very approximately:

worn: $500 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $2000
well preserved: $4000

To gain a little more insight into the value of these coins, consider the two Hydra coins at the right. The first (A) coin is well worn and, while it can be identified from the pattern, all inscriptions and details are gone. The (B) coin, in contrast, has a lot of detail and easily read inscriptions. Typical retail (i.e., collector) prices for these two are:

(A) - $400 coin
(B) - $4000 coin
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