Copper alloy, 180 grams; 94.68 mm. 2nd century AD. A good sized statuette on it's original solid bronze base. Mercury is draped in a chlamys and wearing his winged petasos; this otherwise naked figure holds a purse and a snake entwined Herod’s staff, called a caduceus. Mercury was the messenger of the gods, the wings on his helmet and sandals allowed him to travel very quickly to wherever a god might send him. He was the god of travellers and tradesmen. Good very fine condition. Found Bawtry, South Yorkshire.

Mercury had essentially the same aspects as the Greek Hermes, wearing a winged petasos, carrying purse, chlamys and carrying the caduceus, a herald's staff with two entwined snakes that was Apollo's gift to Hermes. He was often accompanied by a cockerel, herald of the new day, a ram or goat, symbolizing fertility, and a tortoise, referring to Mercury's legendary invention of the lyre from a tortoise shell. Like Hermes, he was also a messenger of the gods and a god of trade, peculiarly of the grain trade. Mercury was also considered a god of abundance and commercial success, particularly in Gaul.