Roman Coins
including Jewish coins under Roman occupation
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Antique coins
Chronology : 600 BCE - CE
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Antique coins
Chronology : 600 BCE - CE
Intro
Appointed consul in 198 BCE, T. Quinctius Flamininus obtained the command of the Roman armies engaged in the Second Macedonian War. He defeated King Philip V decisively at the Battle of Cynoscephales in 197.
A gold stater was issued in the genitive name (T. Quincti) and the effigy of Flamininus. Between Ptolemy I and the time of Caesar it is the only example of monetary portrait of a living person. Even Alexander had not dared. The image is realistic in the style of Alexander's posthumous portrait which was still on the coins circulating in Greece at that time. The waving hair is undone and he wears no ornament revealing his position. The badly trimmed beard reveals that he is a general in the field.
Eleven examples of this coin are known. The best preserved, in superb condition and very well centered, was sold for CHF 600K before fees by Maison Palombo on October 20, 2018, lot 25 here linked on the Sixbid auction platform.
A gold stater was issued in the genitive name (T. Quincti) and the effigy of Flamininus. Between Ptolemy I and the time of Caesar it is the only example of monetary portrait of a living person. Even Alexander had not dared. The image is realistic in the style of Alexander's posthumous portrait which was still on the coins circulating in Greece at that time. The waving hair is undone and he wears no ornament revealing his position. The badly trimmed beard reveals that he is a general in the field.
Eleven examples of this coin are known. The best preserved, in superb condition and very well centered, was sold for CHF 600K before fees by Maison Palombo on October 20, 2018, lot 25 here linked on the Sixbid auction platform.
43 BCE Brutus Imperator Aureus
Intro
During civil or foreign wars, the generals need a lot of money to pay the soldiers. Julius Caesar uses the spoils of the Gallic Wars and the reserves of the Public Treasury. His denarii are the first coins of the Roman republic with the effigy of a living person. This practice was accepted in the Greek world, where several Roman generals had applied it to their own use.
Caesar has himself appointed dictator perpetuo, arousing the horror among the republicans. Suspected of liberticide, he is assassinated less than two months later. His murder was committed in the Ides of March of a year that Livy will soon calculate as 709 Ab Urbe Condita later matching 44 BCE.
The group of conspirators was led by Brutus and Cassius, and the first blow is traditionally attributed to Casca Longus. This Casca Longus seems to have been a very close associate to Brutus. He belongs to the gens Servilius. Brutus had been adopted in his youth by an uncle who was also a Servilius.
In a first phase, the tyrannicides are approved by the Senate. Brutus and Cassius then accepted positions of proconsuls that temporarily separated them. On official mission in Macedonia and Thrace, Brutus issues an aureus from a moving mint.
One side shows his head in a profile view. The emaciated face carved in high relief is probably the only remaining realistic portrayal of Brutus in that period. This side is inscribed BRUTUS IMP. The coin has certainly been issued in 710AUC after a campaign by Brutus in Thrace which earned him the title of imperator.
The other side shows a military trophy aside with the name of Casca Longus without an effigy. This does not mean that Brutus shared any power with his accomplice but rather that Casca Longus was his moneyer, meaning the responsible for his coinage (and not the engraver). The name of Brutus himself had appeared as the moneyer on a Republican coin issued ten years earlier.
Most of them were melted for reuse of the gold after the usurper was defeated. 17 examples of the Brutus Imp aureus are surviving, from two obverse and four reverse dies.
Caesar's likeness on an aureus had been felt as a provocation. The portrait of Brutus on a later aureus does not mean a betrayal of the republic but rather a tradition of Greece where he still was the Roman proconsul.
Caesar has himself appointed dictator perpetuo, arousing the horror among the republicans. Suspected of liberticide, he is assassinated less than two months later. His murder was committed in the Ides of March of a year that Livy will soon calculate as 709 Ab Urbe Condita later matching 44 BCE.
The group of conspirators was led by Brutus and Cassius, and the first blow is traditionally attributed to Casca Longus. This Casca Longus seems to have been a very close associate to Brutus. He belongs to the gens Servilius. Brutus had been adopted in his youth by an uncle who was also a Servilius.
In a first phase, the tyrannicides are approved by the Senate. Brutus and Cassius then accepted positions of proconsuls that temporarily separated them. On official mission in Macedonia and Thrace, Brutus issues an aureus from a moving mint.
One side shows his head in a profile view. The emaciated face carved in high relief is probably the only remaining realistic portrayal of Brutus in that period. This side is inscribed BRUTUS IMP. The coin has certainly been issued in 710AUC after a campaign by Brutus in Thrace which earned him the title of imperator.
The other side shows a military trophy aside with the name of Casca Longus without an effigy. This does not mean that Brutus shared any power with his accomplice but rather that Casca Longus was his moneyer, meaning the responsible for his coinage (and not the engraver). The name of Brutus himself had appeared as the moneyer on a Republican coin issued ten years earlier.
Most of them were melted for reuse of the gold after the usurper was defeated. 17 examples of the Brutus Imp aureus are surviving, from two obverse and four reverse dies.
Caesar's likeness on an aureus had been felt as a provocation. The portrait of Brutus on a later aureus does not mean a betrayal of the republic but rather a tradition of Greece where he still was the Roman proconsul.
1
AU* 5/5, 4/5 by NGC
2024 SOLD for CHF 1.84M by NGSA
An extremely fine example of the Brutus Imp aureus graded AU* 5/5, 4/5 by NGC was sold for CHF 1.84M by NGSA (Numismatica Genevensis SA) on December 9, 2024, lot 1032. Please watch the video shared by RTS.
2
2015 SOLD for CHF 900K before fees by NAC
On October 8, 2015, Numismatica Ars Classica sold for CHF 900K before fees from a lower estimate of CHF 500K an aureus of Brutus, lot 23 illustrated in the post shared by Coin World.
3
2013 SOLD for CHF 850K before fees by NAC
A better centered example in high relief on a broad flan of the Brutus - Casca Longus aureus was sold for CHF 850K before fees from a lower estimate of CHF 350K by Numismatica Ars Classica on November 18, 2013, lot 236.
42 BCE Brutus EID MAR Aureus
1
2020 SOLD for £ 3.25M by Roma Numismatics
sale cancelled in 2023
During civil or foreign wars, the generals need a lot of money to pay the soldiers. Julius Caesar uses the spoils of the Gallic Wars and the reserves of the Public Treasury. His denarii are the first coins of the Roman republic with the effigy of a living person. This practice was accepted in the Greek world, where several Roman generals had applied it to their own use.
Caesar has himself appointed dictator perpetuo, arousing the horror among the republicans. Suspected of liberticide, he is assassinated less than two months later. His murder was committed in the Ides of March of a year that Livy will soon calculate as 709 Ab Urbe Condita later matching 44 BCE.
The group of conspirators was led by Brutus and Cassius, and the first blow is traditionally attributed to Casca Longus. This Casca Longus seems to have been a very close associate to Brutus. He belongs to the gens Servilius. Brutus had been adopted in his youth by an uncle who was also a Servilius.
In a first phase, the tyrannicides are approved by the Senate. Brutus and Cassius then accepted positions of proconsuls that temporarily separated them. On official mission in Macedonia and Thrace, Brutus issues an aureus from a moving mint.
One side shows his head in a profile view. The emaciated face carved in high relief is probably the only remaining realistic portrayal of Brutus in that period. This side is inscribed BRUTUS IMP. The coin has certainly been issued in 710AUC after a campaign by Brutus in Thrace which earned him the title of imperator.
The other side shows a military trophy aside with the name of Casca Longus without an effigy. This does not mean that Brutus shared any power with his accomplice but rather that Casca Longus was his moneyer, meaning the responsible for his coinage (and not the engraver). The name of Brutus himself had appeared as the moneyer on a Republican coin issued ten years earlier.
Most of them were melted for reuse of the gold after the usurper was defeated. 17 examples of the Brutus Imp aureus are surviving, from two obverse and four reverse dies.
Caesar's likeness on an aureus had been felt as a provocation. The portrait of Brutus on a later aureus does not mean a betrayal of the republic but rather a tradition of Greece where he still was the Roman proconsul.
An extremely fine example of the Brutus Imp aureus graded AU* 5/5, 4/5 by NGC was sold for CHF 1.84M by NGSA (Numismatica Genevensis SA) on December 9, 2024, lot 1032. Please watch the video shared by RTS.
Octavian (who will later be Augustus) and Antony claim separately the succession of Caesar. They are reconciled in 43 BCE after a short war and obtain the condemnation in absentia of the tyrannicides. The civil war is then transferred against Brutus and Cassius who consider themselves the ultimate defenders of freedom.
At the beginning of 42, Brutus and Cassius want to return to Rome with their armies. They prepare their coins with the booty collected by Cassius in Asia Minor.
The Brutus coinage becomes revolutionary. The back claims the assassination of Caesar by the inscription EID MAR (for Eidibus Martiis) in large letters below symbolic figures : the cap of freedom between the daggers of the two tyrannicidal leaders. It is the only coin in Roman history that openly celebrates a murder. On the obverse the inscriptions around Brutus's head read BRVT (BRUT) and L PLAET CEST referring to the moneyer L. Plaetorius Cestianus. A new beard may represent a vow taken to defeat the heirs of Caesar and to restore the Republic.
EID MAR was struck from a mobile military mint from Asia Minor to Macedonia in gold and silver as aureus and denarius with the same dies. The aurei were not intended for circulation. They may have been distributed by Brutus to his commanders as both a reminder of what they were fighting for and as a means of cementing their loyalty.
These coins were recalled and melted down by Octavian and Antony after the defeats and death of Brutus and Cassius in October 42 and are very rare.
Three EID MAR aureus survive. The best of the three, very well centered and in near mint condition, was sold for £ 3.25M by Roma Numismatics on October 29, 2020, lot 463.
Investigators concluded in 2023 that the piece from the 2020 auction was illegally exported ca 2013 from Greece after its finding in a field where an army loyal to Brutus camped in 42 BCE and that the catalogue of the sale indicated a fraudulent provenance from a 19th century collection. The authenticity of the coin was not disputed. The sale was cancelled and the coin was returned to Greek officials in March 2023. The story is narrated by The New York Times.
A silver denarius with the EID MAR was sold by Heritage for $ 720K on May 3, 2023, lot 30051. It is graded XF 5/5 4/5 Fine Style by NGC.
Caesar has himself appointed dictator perpetuo, arousing the horror among the republicans. Suspected of liberticide, he is assassinated less than two months later. His murder was committed in the Ides of March of a year that Livy will soon calculate as 709 Ab Urbe Condita later matching 44 BCE.
The group of conspirators was led by Brutus and Cassius, and the first blow is traditionally attributed to Casca Longus. This Casca Longus seems to have been a very close associate to Brutus. He belongs to the gens Servilius. Brutus had been adopted in his youth by an uncle who was also a Servilius.
In a first phase, the tyrannicides are approved by the Senate. Brutus and Cassius then accepted positions of proconsuls that temporarily separated them. On official mission in Macedonia and Thrace, Brutus issues an aureus from a moving mint.
One side shows his head in a profile view. The emaciated face carved in high relief is probably the only remaining realistic portrayal of Brutus in that period. This side is inscribed BRUTUS IMP. The coin has certainly been issued in 710AUC after a campaign by Brutus in Thrace which earned him the title of imperator.
The other side shows a military trophy aside with the name of Casca Longus without an effigy. This does not mean that Brutus shared any power with his accomplice but rather that Casca Longus was his moneyer, meaning the responsible for his coinage (and not the engraver). The name of Brutus himself had appeared as the moneyer on a Republican coin issued ten years earlier.
Most of them were melted for reuse of the gold after the usurper was defeated. 17 examples of the Brutus Imp aureus are surviving, from two obverse and four reverse dies.
Caesar's likeness on an aureus had been felt as a provocation. The portrait of Brutus on a later aureus does not mean a betrayal of the republic but rather a tradition of Greece where he still was the Roman proconsul.
An extremely fine example of the Brutus Imp aureus graded AU* 5/5, 4/5 by NGC was sold for CHF 1.84M by NGSA (Numismatica Genevensis SA) on December 9, 2024, lot 1032. Please watch the video shared by RTS.
Octavian (who will later be Augustus) and Antony claim separately the succession of Caesar. They are reconciled in 43 BCE after a short war and obtain the condemnation in absentia of the tyrannicides. The civil war is then transferred against Brutus and Cassius who consider themselves the ultimate defenders of freedom.
At the beginning of 42, Brutus and Cassius want to return to Rome with their armies. They prepare their coins with the booty collected by Cassius in Asia Minor.
The Brutus coinage becomes revolutionary. The back claims the assassination of Caesar by the inscription EID MAR (for Eidibus Martiis) in large letters below symbolic figures : the cap of freedom between the daggers of the two tyrannicidal leaders. It is the only coin in Roman history that openly celebrates a murder. On the obverse the inscriptions around Brutus's head read BRVT (BRUT) and L PLAET CEST referring to the moneyer L. Plaetorius Cestianus. A new beard may represent a vow taken to defeat the heirs of Caesar and to restore the Republic.
EID MAR was struck from a mobile military mint from Asia Minor to Macedonia in gold and silver as aureus and denarius with the same dies. The aurei were not intended for circulation. They may have been distributed by Brutus to his commanders as both a reminder of what they were fighting for and as a means of cementing their loyalty.
These coins were recalled and melted down by Octavian and Antony after the defeats and death of Brutus and Cassius in October 42 and are very rare.
Three EID MAR aureus survive. The best of the three, very well centered and in near mint condition, was sold for £ 3.25M by Roma Numismatics on October 29, 2020, lot 463.
Investigators concluded in 2023 that the piece from the 2020 auction was illegally exported ca 2013 from Greece after its finding in a field where an army loyal to Brutus camped in 42 BCE and that the catalogue of the sale indicated a fraudulent provenance from a 19th century collection. The authenticity of the coin was not disputed. The sale was cancelled and the coin was returned to Greek officials in March 2023. The story is narrated by The New York Times.
A silver denarius with the EID MAR was sold by Heritage for $ 720K on May 3, 2023, lot 30051. It is graded XF 5/5 4/5 Fine Style by NGC.
A rare classical #coin, commemorating the assassination of #JuliusCaesar, has sold for #record-breaking £2.7 million:
— Barnebys.co.uk (@Barnebysuk) November 19, 2020
2
2022 SOLD for CHF 2.2M before fees by NAC
One of the three surviving examples of the EID MAR aureus was sold for CHF 2.2M before fees from a lower estimate of CHF 750K by Numismatica Ars Classica on May 31, 2022, lot 474 here linked on the NumisBids bidding platform. Please watch the video shared by NumisBids. This coin was on display in the main gallery of the British Museum from 2010 to 2021. A coin presented by King George IV to that museum had been a forgery.
It has been pierced at twelve o'clock, certainly by a supporter of Brutus for wearing it as pendant. It is poorly centered. Its condition is otherwise very fine.
The other coin is in the Deutsche Bundesbank collection.
It has been pierced at twelve o'clock, certainly by a supporter of Brutus for wearing it as pendant. It is poorly centered. Its condition is otherwise very fine.
The other coin is in the Deutsche Bundesbank collection.
474.mp4 from Numismatica Ars Classica NAC AG on Vimeo.
40 BCE Labienus Aureus
2013 SOLD for CHF 800K before fees by NAC
A keen republican, Quintus Labienus supported Caesar's murderers Brutus and Cassius who commissioned him to make an alliance with the powerful Parthian king beyond the eastern Roman border.
Labienus was in Parthia at the time of the defeat and death of Brutus and Cassius in Macedonia in 42 BCE. Arguably considering himself as the last defender of the Roman republican values, he convinced the Parthian king to attack the eastern Roman provinces then under the nominal power of Marcus Antonius.
In 40 Labienus successfully led the Parthian armies as a joint commander and was attributed the cognomen Parthicus and the military designation of imperator.
Labienus imperator has then minted gold aurei and silver denarii by a traveling mint as Brutus had made in Thrace three years earlier. The coins are struck in high relief. The obverse is the portrait of the imperator. The reverse without inscriptions features a standing military horse with bridle, saddle, bow case and quiver, a reference to the Parthian cavalry.
Six aurei survive. A perfectly centered example was sold for CHF 800K before fees by Numismatica Ars Classica on May 16, 2013, lot 192.
Another example in near mint condition was sold for $ 930K by Goldberg on January 10, 2023, lot 145. Please watch the video shared by NGC.
Considered as a traitor, Labienus was killed soon after during a Roman counterattack.
Labienus was in Parthia at the time of the defeat and death of Brutus and Cassius in Macedonia in 42 BCE. Arguably considering himself as the last defender of the Roman republican values, he convinced the Parthian king to attack the eastern Roman provinces then under the nominal power of Marcus Antonius.
In 40 Labienus successfully led the Parthian armies as a joint commander and was attributed the cognomen Parthicus and the military designation of imperator.
Labienus imperator has then minted gold aurei and silver denarii by a traveling mint as Brutus had made in Thrace three years earlier. The coins are struck in high relief. The obverse is the portrait of the imperator. The reverse without inscriptions features a standing military horse with bridle, saddle, bow case and quiver, a reference to the Parthian cavalry.
Six aurei survive. A perfectly centered example was sold for CHF 800K before fees by Numismatica Ars Classica on May 16, 2013, lot 192.
Another example in near mint condition was sold for $ 930K by Goldberg on January 10, 2023, lot 145. Please watch the video shared by NGC.
Considered as a traitor, Labienus was killed soon after during a Roman counterattack.
66 CE One Shekel
2012 SOLD for $ 1.1M by Heritage
The events started quickly, 3826 years after the creation of the world according to the Jewish calendar, corresponding to the year 66 (retroactively) of our current calendar.
For about one hundred and thirty years, the Romans occupied Judea. By negligence, or more likely by provocation, the Greeks made some sacrifices of animals in front of the synagogues. The Romans let them do it, exacerbating the tensions between communities.
The Jewish revolt was massive. The Zealots seized the Temple of Jerusalem, with a revolutionary enthusiasm similar to the storming of the Bastille 1723 years later. The Jews believed having won their independence again, and used the silver reserves of the Temple to create a mint.
Dated Year 1 of Israel, two coins were sold on March 8, 2012 by Heritage. They are illustrated in chalices and pomegranates, with inscriptions in ancient Hebrew. The bigger, worth 1 shekel, is measuring 24 mm in diameter. The other, a quarter of a shekel, 16 mm.
These coins are of the utmost rarity. For each of the two, only one other example is known. They are poorly centered, as many antique coins, which reflects here an undeniable rush mixed with improvisation. They were possibly a first prototype pattern that was never circulated.
The revolution did not last long. Aware of the risk, Nero sent one of his ablest generals, the future emperor Vespasian. The war lasted four years and was atrocious.
The one shekel was sold for $ 1.1M, lot 20195.
In the same sale as the one shekel on March 8, 2012, Heritage sold for $ 900K a coin of a quarter of a shekel dated from the Year 1 of Israel, lot 20201. Only one other example is known. It is also exceptional for its monetary value : for reasons of productivity, very few coins of a quarter of a shekel will be produced throughout the duration of the revolution.
An aureus was sold for $ 960K on March 9, 2012 by Heritage, lot 20531. The inscriptions identify this laureate headed man and, even better, show his place in history : he is Titus at the time of the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE. This gold coin of 18 mm in diameter had probably been minted in Judaea or Antioch.
His father Vespasian was then Emperor since a short time, having put an end to the anarchy that followed Nero's death. Vespasian ever has a surly attitude in his portraits. Titus resembles him in such an expression.
The young man is an imperator, a military qualification assessing that he is in progress of winning the Jewish war, which had been started by his father. He is also caesar, as he now claims to the imperial succession. An inscription on the back is announcing that Judaea is conquered (however, the resistance will last another three years).
For about one hundred and thirty years, the Romans occupied Judea. By negligence, or more likely by provocation, the Greeks made some sacrifices of animals in front of the synagogues. The Romans let them do it, exacerbating the tensions between communities.
The Jewish revolt was massive. The Zealots seized the Temple of Jerusalem, with a revolutionary enthusiasm similar to the storming of the Bastille 1723 years later. The Jews believed having won their independence again, and used the silver reserves of the Temple to create a mint.
Dated Year 1 of Israel, two coins were sold on March 8, 2012 by Heritage. They are illustrated in chalices and pomegranates, with inscriptions in ancient Hebrew. The bigger, worth 1 shekel, is measuring 24 mm in diameter. The other, a quarter of a shekel, 16 mm.
These coins are of the utmost rarity. For each of the two, only one other example is known. They are poorly centered, as many antique coins, which reflects here an undeniable rush mixed with improvisation. They were possibly a first prototype pattern that was never circulated.
The revolution did not last long. Aware of the risk, Nero sent one of his ablest generals, the future emperor Vespasian. The war lasted four years and was atrocious.
The one shekel was sold for $ 1.1M, lot 20195.
In the same sale as the one shekel on March 8, 2012, Heritage sold for $ 900K a coin of a quarter of a shekel dated from the Year 1 of Israel, lot 20201. Only one other example is known. It is also exceptional for its monetary value : for reasons of productivity, very few coins of a quarter of a shekel will be produced throughout the duration of the revolution.
An aureus was sold for $ 960K on March 9, 2012 by Heritage, lot 20531. The inscriptions identify this laureate headed man and, even better, show his place in history : he is Titus at the time of the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE. This gold coin of 18 mm in diameter had probably been minted in Judaea or Antioch.
His father Vespasian was then Emperor since a short time, having put an end to the anarchy that followed Nero's death. Vespasian ever has a surly attitude in his portraits. Titus resembles him in such an expression.
The young man is an imperator, a military qualification assessing that he is in progress of winning the Jewish war, which had been started by his father. He is also caesar, as he now claims to the imperial succession. An inscription on the back is announcing that Judaea is conquered (however, the resistance will last another three years).
135-136 Hadrian Brass Sestertius
2008 SOLD for CHF 2.3M by Numismatica Genevensis
A brass sestertius of the emperor Hadrian in extremely fine condition was sold for CHF 2.3M from a lower estimate of CHF 400K by Numismatica Genevensis on December 3, 2008, lot 233.
The obverse features a profile portrait of the emperor and the reverse a standing figure of the Pax Augusti.
The portrait is attributed to the Alphaeus master supposed to be Antoninianos of Aphrodisias, a specialist in glyptic who had been approached by the emperor in 135-136 for preparing prestige coins for the official vicennalia feast of the reign. This master also designed coins celebrating Antinous, Hadrian's late arch-favorite.
The tradition of the decennalia had been started in 18 BCE by Augustus, by reference to the continuation of his imperial power after an original commitment limited to ten years.
From the reign of Antoninus Pius, the successor to Hadrian, the emperors will order to mint ceremonial coins for their decennalia, vicellania and tricellania.
The obverse features a profile portrait of the emperor and the reverse a standing figure of the Pax Augusti.
The portrait is attributed to the Alphaeus master supposed to be Antoninianos of Aphrodisias, a specialist in glyptic who had been approached by the emperor in 135-136 for preparing prestige coins for the official vicennalia feast of the reign. This master also designed coins celebrating Antinous, Hadrian's late arch-favorite.
The tradition of the decennalia had been started in 18 BCE by Augustus, by reference to the continuation of his imperial power after an original commitment limited to ten years.
From the reign of Antoninus Pius, the successor to Hadrian, the emperors will order to mint ceremonial coins for their decennalia, vicellania and tricellania.
194 Albinus Aureus
2021 SOLD for CHF 1M before fees by NAC
The disastrous reign of Commodus terminates the dynasty of the Antonines that had maintained the Pax Romana for nearly half a century. The Empire is coveted and the contenders are numerous. Septimius Severus emerges victorious after a short period of intense civil wars.
Clodius Albinus, head of the legions in Britannia (England), had been one of the pretenders before making alliance with Severus. When he ascended the throne in April 194 of our calendar, Severus chose Albinus as his Caesar with a right of succession.
At that time the Roman coins display superb portraits, highly detailed and artistic. Severus has realized an aureus at the effigy of Albinus, a beautiful general in his forties with a high forehead, curly hair and full beard.
The reverse of this aureus shows a standing god wearing a very slight pallium and carrying a trident and a caduceus. He is identified by the inscription Saeculo Frugifero which marks the auspices of a return to prosperity. The name is translated from the Greek god Aion Karkophoros who is the patron of Hadrumetum, the hometown of Albinus in present-day Tunisia.
This aureus was as ephemeral as the imperial career of Albinus. After a few months, Severus feels increasingly strong and changes his mind, desiring now to establish a hereditary dynasty. He abruptly evicts his former Caesar before he could disturb his ambitions. After two years of resistance, Albinus is defeated and commits suicide.
The aureus of Albinus is known in only three units. One of them is superbly struck, uncirculated, nearly fleur de coin. It was sold by Numismatica Ars Classica for CHF 600K before fees on May 23, 2016, lot 33 here linked on the bidding platform Sixbid, and for CHF 1M before fees on November 17, 2021, lot 324 here linked on the bidding platform Biddr.
Clodius Albinus, head of the legions in Britannia (England), had been one of the pretenders before making alliance with Severus. When he ascended the throne in April 194 of our calendar, Severus chose Albinus as his Caesar with a right of succession.
At that time the Roman coins display superb portraits, highly detailed and artistic. Severus has realized an aureus at the effigy of Albinus, a beautiful general in his forties with a high forehead, curly hair and full beard.
The reverse of this aureus shows a standing god wearing a very slight pallium and carrying a trident and a caduceus. He is identified by the inscription Saeculo Frugifero which marks the auspices of a return to prosperity. The name is translated from the Greek god Aion Karkophoros who is the patron of Hadrumetum, the hometown of Albinus in present-day Tunisia.
This aureus was as ephemeral as the imperial career of Albinus. After a few months, Severus feels increasingly strong and changes his mind, desiring now to establish a hereditary dynasty. He abruptly evicts his former Caesar before he could disturb his ambitions. After two years of resistance, Albinus is defeated and commits suicide.
The aureus of Albinus is known in only three units. One of them is superbly struck, uncirculated, nearly fleur de coin. It was sold by Numismatica Ars Classica for CHF 600K before fees on May 23, 2016, lot 33 here linked on the bidding platform Sixbid, and for CHF 1M before fees on November 17, 2021, lot 324 here linked on the bidding platform Biddr.
Medallion
1
281 Probus
2023 SOLD for CHF 2.4M before fees by NAC
The Romans did not make a difference between coins and commemorative medals. Coins larger and heavier than the circulation currency were referred as Roman medallions.
The tradition of preparing presentation coins for the ten years and multiples of ten was maintained since the decennalia of Antoninus celebrated in 147. From Gallienus in 262, a votive formula indicates the nature of the celebration, UOT X for a decennalia.
In a time of continuous civil and frontier wars, Probus fought with success on almost every frontier of the empire. He was elected emperor by the troops in 276. On the Western front, he was able to defeat the German invaders in Gaul and to campaign against them in their homeland.
He coined a gold medallion in very high relief and fine details dated on the obverse to his fourth consulship matching 281 CE, when he celebrated a grand triumph in Rome as Probus Germanicus Maximus.
The obverse features the double laureate bust of the emperor and of Hercules. The cuirassed Probus wears the imperial mantle and holds an eagle tipped sceptre. Hercules wears the lion skin and holds a club. The reverse is a complex scene of five characters led by the winged Victory, Probus and the God Mars crossing the Rhine on a pontoon bridge over the river god lying in the waves.
The only surviving example, weighing 26.05 grams, is virtually as struck and nearly fleur de coin. It was sold for CHF 2.4M before fees from a lower estimate of CHF 800K by Numismatica Ars Classica on May 18, 2023, lot 802 here linked in the bidding platform Sixbid. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The pairing of an emperor with Hercules as a companion was reused by Diocletian.
The tradition of preparing presentation coins for the ten years and multiples of ten was maintained since the decennalia of Antoninus celebrated in 147. From Gallienus in 262, a votive formula indicates the nature of the celebration, UOT X for a decennalia.
In a time of continuous civil and frontier wars, Probus fought with success on almost every frontier of the empire. He was elected emperor by the troops in 276. On the Western front, he was able to defeat the German invaders in Gaul and to campaign against them in their homeland.
He coined a gold medallion in very high relief and fine details dated on the obverse to his fourth consulship matching 281 CE, when he celebrated a grand triumph in Rome as Probus Germanicus Maximus.
The obverse features the double laureate bust of the emperor and of Hercules. The cuirassed Probus wears the imperial mantle and holds an eagle tipped sceptre. Hercules wears the lion skin and holds a club. The reverse is a complex scene of five characters led by the winged Victory, Probus and the God Mars crossing the Rhine on a pontoon bridge over the river god lying in the waves.
The only surviving example, weighing 26.05 grams, is virtually as struck and nearly fleur de coin. It was sold for CHF 2.4M before fees from a lower estimate of CHF 800K by Numismatica Ars Classica on May 18, 2023, lot 802 here linked in the bidding platform Sixbid. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The pairing of an emperor with Hercules as a companion was reused by Diocletian.
802 from Numismatica Ars Classica NAC AG on Vimeo.
2
308 Maxentius
2011 SOLD for CHF 1.3M before fees by NAC
Maxentius is acclaimed emperor in 306 CE in Rome, aged 23. Unable to overcome the civil war and considered as a usurper outside Rome, he soon shared his imperial power with his father the former co-emperor Maximianus who had abdicated conjointly with Diocletian.
Maxentius was the last emperor to reside permanently in Rome of which he had endeavored to re-establish some of the ancient splendor. He had built or rebuilt the temple of Romulus, a basilica, a villa, a circus.
He had gold medallions minted ca 308 to commemorate his effort in the restoration of Rome including the temple of Urbis Veneris damaged in a fire in 307.
The medallion of 8 aurei displays on one side the bareheaded profile portrait of the young emperor turned to the right, and on the other side the encounter of the emperor in the robes of a senator with a seated allegory of Roma. They join their hands to hold an orb.
Two examples are known. The finest was sold for CHF 1.3M before fees from a lower estimate of CHF 850K by Numismatica Ars Classica on April 4-5, 2011, lot 1164. It weighs 42.76 g.
The obverse of the medallion of 4 aurei or quaternio has the same imperial head portrait but turned to the left. The reverse features Roma seated left on a shield decorated with the Lupa and twins on globe. Roma holds a miniature standing Victory on an orb in her right hand.
Two examples also survive. One of them, graded MS 5/5 by NGC in a strong strike on satiny surface, weighing 21.12 g with 33 mm in diameter, was sold by Heritage for $ 310K on March 25, 2021, lot 30065, and for the same price on November 2, 2022, lot 31063.
The reign of Constantinus was exceptionally long so that a tricellania jubilee was prepared from 335-336 in advance to the 30th anniversary of the reign to occur in 337.
A medallion worth 6 gold solidi with the UOT XXX inscription was minted in Nicomedia with the effigy of Constantinus. Nicomedia had been the capital of Diocletian and Constantine "the Great" before the latter founded Constantinople. The bust of the emperor is featured with a diadem on the obverse while two winged Victories hold a wreath on the reverse.
A source based on the ceremony of a later reign narrates that the emperor himself handed the donations to the most important officers and officials. The recipients accepted their presents with hands enveloped, and the emperor put them in the overfold of the toga or the military cloak.
The unique and precedently unrecorded medallion of the Constantine tricellania was
sold for € 640K by Gorny und Mosch on October 14, 2013, lot 1095, narrated post sale by CoinBooks and for CHF 800K before fees by Numismatica Ars Classica on November 21, 2022, lot 392 here linked on the bidding platform NumisBids.
It is weighing 26.77 g to be compared with the solidus of 4.38 g of same year but another design kept at the British Museum. Its condition is about extremely fine or better.
Maxentius was the last emperor to reside permanently in Rome of which he had endeavored to re-establish some of the ancient splendor. He had built or rebuilt the temple of Romulus, a basilica, a villa, a circus.
He had gold medallions minted ca 308 to commemorate his effort in the restoration of Rome including the temple of Urbis Veneris damaged in a fire in 307.
The medallion of 8 aurei displays on one side the bareheaded profile portrait of the young emperor turned to the right, and on the other side the encounter of the emperor in the robes of a senator with a seated allegory of Roma. They join their hands to hold an orb.
Two examples are known. The finest was sold for CHF 1.3M before fees from a lower estimate of CHF 850K by Numismatica Ars Classica on April 4-5, 2011, lot 1164. It weighs 42.76 g.
The obverse of the medallion of 4 aurei or quaternio has the same imperial head portrait but turned to the left. The reverse features Roma seated left on a shield decorated with the Lupa and twins on globe. Roma holds a miniature standing Victory on an orb in her right hand.
Two examples also survive. One of them, graded MS 5/5 by NGC in a strong strike on satiny surface, weighing 21.12 g with 33 mm in diameter, was sold by Heritage for $ 310K on March 25, 2021, lot 30065, and for the same price on November 2, 2022, lot 31063.
The reign of Constantinus was exceptionally long so that a tricellania jubilee was prepared from 335-336 in advance to the 30th anniversary of the reign to occur in 337.
A medallion worth 6 gold solidi with the UOT XXX inscription was minted in Nicomedia with the effigy of Constantinus. Nicomedia had been the capital of Diocletian and Constantine "the Great" before the latter founded Constantinople. The bust of the emperor is featured with a diadem on the obverse while two winged Victories hold a wreath on the reverse.
A source based on the ceremony of a later reign narrates that the emperor himself handed the donations to the most important officers and officials. The recipients accepted their presents with hands enveloped, and the emperor put them in the overfold of the toga or the military cloak.
The unique and precedently unrecorded medallion of the Constantine tricellania was
sold for € 640K by Gorny und Mosch on October 14, 2013, lot 1095, narrated post sale by CoinBooks and for CHF 800K before fees by Numismatica Ars Classica on November 21, 2022, lot 392 here linked on the bidding platform NumisBids.
It is weighing 26.77 g to be compared with the solidus of 4.38 g of same year but another design kept at the British Museum. Its condition is about extremely fine or better.
