MYSIA. Cyzicus. Commodus, 177-192. Diassarion (Bronze, 23.5 mm, 7.40 g, 8 h), c. 182-184. AY KAI M AYP KOMMOΔOC Laureate and draped bust of Commodus to right, with a light beard. Rev. KYZIKHNΩN NEOK Youthful athlete, nude, placing a krater on its side atop a square, garlanded altar. Apparently unpublished and unknown. Attractive brown-red toning, and with a particularly unusual reverse depiction. Surface roughness, otherwise, good very fine.

What, precisely, is actually going on in the scene on the reverse of this coin is really uncertain. We have a nude young man holding what is clearly a krater - with a wide mouth, tall foot and curious, small side handles - on its side on a low, apparently square altar ornamented with garlands on its sides. He steadies the krater with his left hand while he seems to touching the inner rim with his right: is he preparing to reach in and clean the vessel out? Why would he do so on an altar? The best explanation is that this scene is part of a ritual known to the coin's contemporaries, but which is now obscure (in fact, very obscure).