Septimius Severus 193-211 CE
Ae Assarion 21mm 5.9gms
Obv: LOY CEP CEOYHPOC; Laureate, cuirassed bust right
Rev: KYPARICCIEWN; Athena standing left holding patera and spear, shield at her side
BCD Peloponnesos 793; NCP p. 70, 2; BMC –; Imhoof-Blumer+Gardner P XVIII
In his travels, Pausanias wrote “There is a shrine of Apollo in Cyparissiae and of Athena with the title Cyparissia. In the depression called Aulon there is a temple and statue of Asclepius Aulonius.”
Imhoof-Blumer and Gardner tentatively assigned this coin as the inevitable statue to Athena that must have existed in the temple. Certainly it would make sense to model this coin after her. One odd aspect, though, is that as far as I can tell this example doesn’t have the shield. Another example I found in a search, from perhaps the same dies as this one, also doesn’t seem to have the shield.
I found examples of both, including a Septimius Severus variant with the shield. Perhaps someone took the shield? The Athena Parthenos in Athens did have a shield, though it’s impossible to know whether the variant at Kyparissia had one.