| Heritage World Coin Auctions > NYINC Signature Sale 3113 | Auction date: 8 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 31050 Price realized: 14,000 USD (Approx. 12,762 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | Show similar lots on CoinArchives Find similar lots in upcoming auctions on  |
| Lot description: Ancients Gaius (Caligula) (AD 37-41), with Agrippina Senior. AR denarius (19mm, 3.71 gm, 9h). NGC AU 5/5 - 3/5. Lugdunum, AD 37-38. C•CAESAR•AVG•GERM•P•M•TR•POT, laureate head of Caligula right / AGRIPPINA•MAT•C•CAES•AVG•GERM, draped bust of Agrippina Senior right, seen from front, hair arranged in ringlets along brow line and gathered into looped plait at back. RIC I 14 (Rome). An exceptional example of a coveted type boasting two stunning portraits of members from the historic Julio-Claudian family. From The Bob Klein History of Money Collection. Ex Heritage Auctions, Auction 3061 (8 January 2018), lot 32087. Most ancient historians agree Agrippina Senior, the granddaughter of Augustus, was a model of rectitude and matronly virtue. She also went beyond the traditional role of a Roman wife in accompanying her husband Germanicus on dangerous military campaigns and foreign postings. The Roman people admired her courage; however she also had an imperious nature that irritated her peers and relations, particularly the Emperor Tiberius. The mysterious death of Germanicus in AD 19 led to further clashes. Agrippina believed Tiberius and/or Livia had a hand in his demise and made no secret of her suspicions. In AD 29 she was charged with treason and banished to a remote island; repeatedly abused and starved, she died four years later. Upon the death of Tiberius, her son Gaius 'Caligula' became emperor and rehabilitated his mother's reputation, ostentatiously placing her ashes to the Mausoleum of Augustus and striking this attractive denarius pairing her portrait with his own. There is scholarly disagreement over the mint location for Caligula's precious metal coinage. C. H. V. Sutherland and R. A. Carson, writing in Vol. I of RIC, state their belief that the early, bare headed coinage of Caligula, like that of Tiberius, was struck in Gaul at the mint of Lugdunum, but that late in AD 37, minting operations were transferred to Rome and continued there for all subsequent issues, identified by a laureate head of the emperor. J. B. Giard, author of the Bibliotech Nationale catalog in Paris, believes all of Caligula's gold and silver issues were minted in Lugdunum, and this view is supported by David R. Sear in "Roman Coins and Their Values." https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/roman-imperial/ancients-gaius-caligula-ad-37-41-with-agrippina-senior-ar-denarius-19mm-371-gm-9h-ngc-au-5-5-3-5/a/3113-31050.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3113-01082024 HID02906262019 © 2023 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved Estimate: 10000-12000 USD |  |
