Auction 123 - Session 3
Date: 2023-05-23 00:00:00
Lots: 250
Total starting: $ 0.00
Total realized: $ 0.00 (+0.00%)
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Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Auction 123 - Session 3 . 650
Didia Clara. Augusta, AD 193. AR Denarius (18mm, 2.79 g, 12h). Rome mint. Struck under Didius Julianus. Draped bust right / Hilaritas standing left, holding long palm frond in right hand and cornucopia in left. RIC IV 10 (Didius); RSC 3. Lightly toned. Near VF. Very rare. Ex Classical Numismatic Group Electronic Auction 328 (11 June 2014), lot 535; Classical Numismatic Group Electronic Auction 202 (14 January 2009), lot 334.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Auction 123 - Session 3 . 651
Pescennius Niger. AD 193-194. AR Denarius (19.5mm, 3.28 g, 12h). Antioch mint. Laureate head right / Salus standing right, feeding snake held in her arms; lighted altar to right. RIC IV 77; RSC 68. Lightly toned, some luster remaining, minor porosity, small area of clogged die in obverse legend. Good VF. Exceptional portrait.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Auction 123 - Session 3 . 652
Septimius Severus. AD 193-211. Æ Sestertius (30mm, 28.66 g, 12h). Rome mint. Struck AD 193. Laureate head right / Fides standing left, holding Victory and vexillum. RIC IV 651; Banti 49; H.-J. Lückger, "Zum Korpus der römischen Kaisermünzen. Abweichungen und neue Stücke zu Cohen II Auflage und Mattingly & Sydenham," in Frankfurter Münzzeitung 2/15 (March 1931), 11 (this coin). Even brown surfaces. VF. From the Richard McAlee Collection. Ex Peus 417 (2 November 2016), lot 391; Hermann-Joseph Lückger Collection (his collection ticket included).
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Auction 123 - Session 3 . 653
Septimius Severus. AD 193-211. AV Aureus (20mm, 7.24 g, 12h). Rome mint. Struck AD 194. L SEPT SEV PE RT AVG IMP III, laureate head right / DIS • AVSPICIB T R P • II, COS • II • P P in exergue, Hercules, naked, on left, standing left, holding club set on ground in right hand, lion skin over left arm; on right, Bacchus (or Liber), wearing wreath, naked, standing fleft, holding oenochoe in right hand and vertical thyrsus in left; between them, a panther, standing left, head right. RIC IV 31; Calicó 2446; BMCRE 63 (same rev. die); Biaggi 1069 (same obv. die); Rauch 103, lot 415 (same dies). Underlying luster, tiny die flaw on reverse. EF. The first Roman emperor from Africa, Septimius Severus was born in Leptis Magna, which is present day Al-Khums, Libya. Severus seized power after the death of Pertinax in AD 193. On 1 June AD 193 Didius Julianus was killed by a palace soldier. Severus fought against the rival emperor Pescennius Niger, who he defeated in AD 194 at the battle of Issus in Cilicia. The reverse of this coin depicts the gods Hercules and Bacchus, patron deities of his hometown. They are identified as "Dis Auspicibus," the Divine Heralds, who, together figure in the rhetoric of conquest and power, mediating between the Olympian deities and humankind. Septimius Severus celebrates their intervention in his rise to the throne and the defeat of his rival claimants with this magnificent reverse type.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Auction 123 - Session 3 . 654
Septimius Severus, with Caracalla. AS 193-211. AR Denarius (2.69 g, 6h). Dynastic issue. Rome mint. Struck AD 200-201. Laureate head of Septimius Severus right / Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Caracalla right. RIC IV 157; RSC 2a. In NGC encapsulation 6558570-002, graded Ch XF, Strike: 5/5, Surface: 1/5, smoothing. Ex Aufhäuser 16 (16 October 2001), lot 364.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Auction 123 - Session 3 . 655
Septimius Severus. AD 193-211. AV Aureus (21mm, 7.35 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 201. SEVERVS PIVS AVG, laureate head right / RESTITVTOR VRBIS, Roma, helmeted, draped to feet, seated left on small, round shield, holding palladium on extended right hand and scepter, nearly vertical, in left, resting feet on stool. RIC IV 288; Calicó 2529a; BMCRE 358; Biaggi 1101; Jameson –; Mazzini –. In NGC encapsulation 4938386-016, graded Ch AU, Strike: 5/5, Surface: 3/5, edge scuff. Flush with plunder from his eastern conquests and cash forcibly extracted from his political enemies, Septimius Severus engaged in a prodigious building campaign in the city of Rome, including the arch that bears his name and still survives in the Roman Forum. He also built the Septizodium, an elaborately layered colonnade that served as a public gathering place and alternate forum, which survived until demolished by Pope Sixtus V in 1588. These and other improvements were celebrated on coinage naming Severus as "Restitutor Urbis," or "Restorer of the City," including this aureus.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Auction 123 - Session 3 . 656
Septimius Severus. AD 193-211. Æ As (28mm, 9.44 g, 12h). Ludi Saeculares (Secular Games) issue. Rome mint. Struck under Septimius Severus and Caracalla, AD 204. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / COS/ III/ LVD/ SAEC/ FEC in five lines on column; to left, Liber standing right, holding cup and thyrsus; to right, Hercules standing left, holding club and lion skin. RIC IV 764A. Rough green-brown surfaces. VF. Very rare. From the Richard McAlee Collection, purchased from Roberto Pedoni (with his ticket).The Ludi Saeculares were celebrated at the close of every saeculum (a length of time corresponding to the maximum age an individual might live, usually defined as 100 or 110 years). This issue, struck in AD 204, celebrated the seventh Ludi Saeculares in Roman coinage 220 years after the Augustan celebration.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Auction 123 - Session 3 . 657
Septimius Severus. AD 193-211. AV Aureus (19mm, 6.98 g, 11h). Emesa mint. Struck AD 194-195. IMP CΛE L SEP SEV PERT AVG COS II, laureate head right / ROMΛ ΛETERNΛ, Roma, helmeted and draped, seated left on cuirass, holding Victory on outstretched right hand and vertical spear in left; shield to right. Calicó 2534, illustrating NGSA 10 (2018), lot 56 = NAC 99 (2017), lot 21 = Triton III (1999), lot 1115 = Lanz 74 (1995), lot 591 (same rev. die); otherwise, unpublished. Lustrous, some die rust, scratch on obverse. EF. Extremely rare; the second known example. Emesa, a caravan city in north-western Syria, was the hometown of Julia Domna, wife of Septimius Severus, whose family connections to the priestly ruling caste of that city proved important to the Severan dynasty. Unlike many cities in the East, Emesa remained loyal to Severus during the destructive civil war with Pescennius Niger, who was governor of Roman Syria before being acclaimed by his soldiers as Augustus in AD 193. Severus sent his armies eastward and engaged Niger in a series of battles starting in the fall of AD 193, culminating with a decisive victory at Issus in May of AD 194. Niger was hunted down and killed. Severus and Julia Domna then undertook a triumphant tour of the eastern cities, probably arriving in Emesa in mid-194, an occasion marked by the striking of gold aurei, including this exceedingly rare example.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Auction 123 - Session 3 . 658
Caracalla. AD 198-217. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.14 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 216. Laureate and bearded head right / Sol standing left, raising right hand and holding globe in left. RIC IV 281b; RSC 359. Choice EF. Well centered and struck with fresh dies.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Auction 123 - Session 3 . 659
Macrinus. AD 217-218. AR Denarius (20mm, 3.60 g, 12h). Rome mint, 1st officina. 2nd emission, AD 217-218. Laureate and cuirassed bust right / Felicitas standing left, holding long caduceus in right hand and cornucopia in left. RIC IV 59; Clay Issue 2; RSC 15a. Great metal with a superb portrait. EF. Ex Classical Numismatic Group inventory 846662 (May 2009).
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Auction 123 - Session 3 . 660
Macrinus. AD 217-218. Æ As (25mm, 12.95 g, 12h). Rome mint. 2nd emission, AD 217-218. Laureate and cuirassed bust right, wearing long beard / Macrinus, togate, standing left in triumphal quadriga pacing left, holding branch in right hand and short scepter in left; to right, behind him, Victory standing left, crowning him. RIC IV 162; Clay Issue 2; BMCRE 134. Dark green-brown patina. Good VF.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Auction 123 - Session 3 . 661
Diadumenian. As Caesar, AD 217-218. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.14 g, 12h). Rome mint. 3rd emission of Macrinus, AD 218. Bareheaded, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Spes advancing left, holding flower and raising hem of skirt. RIC IV 117; Clay Issue 3; RSC 21b. Lightly toned, lustrous, minor deposits. EF.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Auction 123 - Session 3 . 662
Elagabalus. AD 218-222. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.17 g, 6h). Uncertain eastern mint. Struck AD 218-219. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Slow quadriga right, bearing the sacred stone of Emesa on which is an eagle, surrounded by four parasols. RIC IV 195; Thirion 360; RSC 268. Lustrous, rough edges. EF. Ex Nilus Coins inventory 006-50 (ND).At the age of fourteen, Varius Avitus Bassianus (better known as Elagabalus or Heliogabalus) inherited the office of high priest of the sun god El-Gabal at Emesa in Syria. The deity was worshipped in the form of a conical sacred stone, or baetyl, likely a large meteorite. When an unlikely coup made him emperor in June of AD 218, Elagabalus determined to take the stone with him to Rome and introduce its worship to the whole empire. During his reign, the emperor was devoted to promoting the cult of El-Gabal, building a lavish temple on the Palatine Hill to house the stone. For a brief period, the exotic eastern deity nearly came to dominate the Roman Pantheon. This issue, struck in AD 218-219, likely refers to the journey from Emesa to Rome. The procession was repeated every year in the transfer of the stone from its principal temple in Rome to its "summer home," a large and richly decorated temple in the suburbs. Describing the transfer, Herodian (V.6.7) writes: A six-horse chariot bore the sun god, the horses huge and flawlessly white, with expensive gold fittings and rich ornaments. No one held the reins, and no one rode in the chariot; the vehicle was escorted as if the sun god himself were the charioteer. Heliogabalus ran backward in front of the chariot, facing the god and holding the horses' reins. He made the whole journey in this reverse fashion, looking up into the face of his god.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Auction 123 - Session 3 . 663
Maximinus I. AD 235-238. Æ Sestertius (30.5mm, 19.12 g, 12h). Rome mint. 3rd emission, late AD 236-237. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Pax standing left, holding olive branch and scepter. RIC IV 81; BMCRE 148-52; Banti 12. Even dark gray surfaces. Good VF. From the Richard McAlee Collection. Ex Classical Numismatic Group 87 (18 May 2011), lot 1048.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Auction 123 - Session 3 . 664
Maximus. Caesar, AD 235/6-238. Æ Sestertius (31mm, 25.50 g, 12h). Rome mint. 3rd emission of Maximinus I, AD 236-237. Bareheaded and draped bust right / Maximus standing left, holding baton in right hand and transverse spear in left; two signa to right. RIC IV 13; BMCRE 213-7; Banti 6. Attractive brown patina, minor doubling on obverse, light smoothing in fields. VF. From the DFA Collection.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Auction 123 - Session 3 . 665
Gordian II. AD 238. Æ Sestertius (31mm, 22.19 g, 12h). Rome mint. Struck 1-22 April. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Virtus, helmeted, in military attire, standing left, holding shield set on ground in right hand and spear in left. RIC IV 8; BMCRE 31-2; Banti 7. Dark green-brown patina, traces of deposits. VF.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Auction 123 - Session 3 . 666
Balbinus. AD 238. Æ Sestertius (30.5mm, 27.30 g, 12h). Rome mint. 1st emission. IMP CAES D CAEL BALBINVS AVG, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / P M TR P COS II P P, Felicitas standing left, holding caduceus in right hand and long scepter in left. RIC IV 18; BMCRE 32 note; Banti 6 (this coin). Red-brown surfaces, small flan crack, excellent portrait. Good VF. Very rare: BMCRE footnote reads "The sestertius with this rev. C. 19 (Wiczay), has not been confirmed," and Banti records only four examples, including this coin. From the DMS Collection, purchased from Classical Numismatic Group, January 2006. Ex Lanz 125 (28 November 2005), lot 940; Prof Dr. Prix Collection (Helbing 63, 29 April 1931), lot 1128.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Auction 123 - Session 3 . 667
Gordian III. AD 238-244. Æ Sestertius (29.5mm, 19.53 g, 11h). Rome mint, 3rd officina. 8th-11th emissions, late AD 240-early 243. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Laetitia standing left, holding wreath and anchor. RIC IV 300a; Banti 38. Even dark brown surfaces. Good VF. Bold portrait. From the Richard McAlee Collection. Ex Classical Numismatic Group 87 (18 May 2011), lot 1070.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Auction 123 - Session 3 . 668
Tranquillina. Augusta, AD 241-244. AR Denarius (20mm, 2.99 g, 1h). Rome mint. Special emission, mid AD 243. SABINIA TRANQVILLINA AVG, draped bust right, wearing stephane / CONCORDIA AVGG, Concordia seated left on throne, holding patera in right hand and cradling double cornucopia in left arm. RIC IV 252; RSC 1a; Biaggi 2395; Hunter 1. Cabinet tone, areas of luster. EF. Attractive portrait. Extemely rare and one of the finest known. Ex New York Sale XXXIV (6 January 2015), lot 649; Barry Feirstein Collection (Part 1, Numismatica Ars Classica 39, 16 May 2007), lot 153.Furia Sabinia Tranquillina was the daughter of the formidably named Gaius Furius Sabinius Aquila Timesitheus, a highly respected career soldier of equestrian rank who rose to become Praetorian Prefect under the boy emperor Gordian III. In AD 241, Tranquillina married Gordian, making Timesitheus his father-in-law and guardian, and hopefully setting the stage for a successful dynasty. The next few years appeared to be relatively tranquil, but in early AD 243 Gordian and Timesitheus were forced into arms by an aggressive Persian attack on the eastern frontier. Under the Prefect's guidance, the Romans won a major victory in early AD 244, but at this point Timesitheus fell suddenly ill and died, leaving the young, inexperienced Gordian without his mentor and guardian. In short order he was dead, either slain in battle or the victim of a coup led by his successor, Philip I. It is not known whether Tranquillina was present in camp or back in Rome, but we hear no more of her. While there is an abundant provincial coinage for Tranquillina, her Roman issues are exceptionally rare.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Auction 123 - Session 3 . 669
Philip I. AD 244-249. Æ Sestertius (28mm, 18.45 g, 12h). Rome mint, 1st officina. 4th emission, AD 245. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Philip seated left, holding globe and parazonium. RIC IV 148a; Banti 30. Even dark brown surfaces. Good VF. From the Richard McAlee Collection. Ex Classical Numismatic Group 87 (18 May 2011), lot 1089.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Auction 123 - Session 3 . 670
Otacilia Severa. Augusta, AD 244-249. Æ Sestertius (26mm, 19.09 g, 12h). Ludi Saeculares (Secular Games) issue, commemorating the 1000th anniversary of Rome. Rome mint, 4th officina. 9th emission of Philip I, AD 248. Draped bust right, wearing stephane / Hippopotamus standing right. RIC IV 200a (Philip I); Banti 13. Dark brown patina, minor roughness on obverse. Good VF. A wonderful Hippopotamus. Ex Classical Numismatic Group 87 (18 May 2011), lot 1104.Continuing the tradition of Claudius and Antoninus Pius before him, the celebration of the Secular Games at the end of every century since the founding of Rome culminated during the reign of Philip I, as the city celebrated her 1,000th anniversary in AD 248. The legends on these issues almost exclusively read SAECVLARES AVGG, and feature a similar iconography from previous games, such as the she-wolf suckling the twins, the various wild beasts paraded through the amphitheater, and a cippus inscribed for the preservation of the memory of these events.