Triton XIX Sessions 1 - 2
Date: 2016-01-05 00:00:00
Lots: 235
Total starting: $ 1,188,180.00
Total realized: $ 2,225,425.00 (+87.30%)
In this auction, Numistats has matched 167 coins, providing AI-powered purchase recommendations and detailed analysis. View more.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XIX Sessions 1 - 2 - Session 2, 682
Petronius Maximus.
Usurper, AD 455. AV Solidus (21mm, 4.46 g, 6h). Rome mint. D N PETRONIVS MA-XIMVS P F AVC, pearl-diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right / VICTORI A AVCC, Petronius standing facing, holding long cross in right hand and Victory set on globe in left, right foot on human-headed serpent; R-M//COMOB. RIC X 2201; Depeyrot 48/1; Lacam Groupe, Pl. XVIII, 5 = Mazzini 1 (this coin); DOCLR –; Biaggi 2362; Triton XII, lot 795 (same obv. die). Good VF, toned, die rust in devices. Very rare.
Ex Giuseppe Mazzini Collection; Vicomte de Sartiges Collection (Ars Classica XVIII, 10 October 1938), lot 540 (purchased by Santamaria for Mazzini); Egger XXXIX (15 January 1912), lot 1464 (purchased by Jacob Hirsch for de Sartiges).
Following the assassination of Valentinian III in AD 455, Petronius Maximus seized the throne and immediately married Valentinian’s wife, Licinia Eudoxia. Licinia, believing that Petronius was responsible for her late husband’s death, was not happy with the new arrangement, and she appealed to the Vandal king of Carthage, Gaiseric, for help. Gaiseric responded to Licinia’s plea and quickly sailed for Italy. Fearing for his life, Petronius decided to flee, but was abandoned by his bodyguard. While riding out of Rome on 31 May, he was stoned and killed. His reign lasted for only seventy days.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XIX Sessions 1 - 2 - Session 2, 624
Delmatius.
Caesar, AD 335-337. AV Solidus (22mm, 4.30 g, 12h). Constantinople mint. Struck AD 336. FL DELMATIVS NOB CAES, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / PRINCIPI IVVE NTVTIS, Delmatius, in military attire, standing left, holding vexillum in right hand and scepter in left; two military signa to right; CONS. RIC VII 113; Calicó –; Depeyrot 7/10; Biaggi 2052; Jameson 362 (this coin). EF, areas of light toning, traces of underlying luster, minor lamination on obverse at edge below bust. Very rare.
Ex Erich von Schulthess-Rechberg Collection (Hess-Leu, 23 March 1961), lot 420; Robert Jameson Collection, 362; J. Hirsch XXII (25 November 1908), lot 203.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XIX Sessions 1 - 2 - Session 2, 592
Septimius Severus.
AD 193-211. AV Aureus (20mm, 7.14 g, 12h). Rome mint. Struck AD 193. IMP CAE • L • SEP SEV PERT AVG, laureate bust right / LEG XIIII • GEM • M • V •, TR P COS in exergue, legionary aquila between two signa; forepart of capricorn on the shaft of each signum. RIC IV 14; Calicó 2472a; Biaggi 1073; BMCRE 18. Choice EF, lustrous. Well centered on a broad flan. Very rare, only three examples of two varieties in CoinArchives.
This very rare and important aureus is one of only four recorded gold types in the extensive ‘legionary’ series issued by Severus at the very outset of his reign. According to Dio Cassius (
XLVI
, 46, 7), he paid an accession donative of 250 denarii (ten aurei) per man and in all likelihood the legionary coinage was specially struck for this purpose.
Legio XIV Gemina Martia Victrix
received special honors from the new emperor as he had been the commander of this unit at the time of his elevation to imperial status. Originally formed by Octavian, this legion had participated in the invasion and conquest of Britain under Claudius and had gained its additional epithet of
Martia Victrix
for the vital role that it played in the defeat of the Icenian revolt led by Boudicca in 60 AD
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XIX Sessions 1 - 2 - Session 2, 612
Probus.
AD 276-282. AV Aureus (20mm, 5.21 g, 6h). Rome mint. 6th emission, AD 281/2. IMP PROB VS P F AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust left / VICTORIOS O SEMPER, Probus standing left, in military dress, holding scepter, between four captives. RIC V 143; Pink VI/1, p. 59, 42; Bastien,
Monnaie
, p. 59, i; Calicó 4237 (no illustration); Biaggi –. Superb EF, full mint luster. Extremely rare, only one example in CoinArchives of this reverse type - see CNG 58 (19 September 2001), lot 1313.
Probus spent the first several years of his reign fighting off invaders from the north and east, and suppressing internal revolts from several of his field commanders. The most pressing concern at the time of Probus' accession was the invasions of the Franks in the north and Germanic tribes (including the Vandals and Burgundians) in the center and south. It took Probus two years (277-278) to defeat these tribes and restore the Roman frontier on the Rhine and Upper Danube. In 279, he turned his attention eastward, defeating the Getae on the Lower Danube, and then crossed into Asia Minor to suppress a band of robbers led by Lydius the Isaurian. Next came the suppression of a revolt in upper Egypt led by a Nubian tribe, the Blemmyae. Lastly, came the revolts of Bonosus, Proculus, and Saturninus, each of whom either died in battle or was betrayed by his troops. Finally, in 281 Probus returned to Rome to celebrate his many victories with a triumph held toward the end of the year. Accompanying this triumph were lavish games and gladiatorial contests, as well as a large donative. This aureus, celebrating the "Always Victorius" Probus, was part of that donative.