| Classical Numismatic Group > Electronic Auction 557 | Auction date: 6 March 2024 |
| Lot number: 248 Price realized: 800 USD (Approx. 736 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: BITHYNIA, Caesarea Germanica. Pescennius Niger. AD 193-194. Æ Assarion (16mm, 1.88 g, 8h). Laureate head right / Garlanded altar, serpent arises from top, head right. RG –; Helios 5, lot 623. Black patina with light deposits, cleaning scratches, small chip on reverse. Fine. Very rare, unpublished. Ex Roma E-Sale 68 (27 February 2020), lot 740. Estimate: 150 USD |  |
Match 1:
| Classical Numismatic Group > Electronic Auction 561 | Auction date: 1 May 2024 |
| Lot number: 439 Price realized: 225 USD (Approx. 210 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: LYDIA, Sardis. Caracalla. AD 198-217. Æ (24.5mm, 7.86 g, 6h). Radiate head right / Herakles advancing right, leading the Cretan Bull by the horns and holding club. Hochard 2020 (D230/R516) = Kurth 528 = BMC 164. Dark brown patina with earthen deposits, cleaning scratches. Fine. Very rare, the third known example. From the Hesiod Collection. Ex N&N Online Auction 7 (14 August 2022), lot 204. This reverse type has two variations, both extremely rare. One naming the archon Antonius Rufus (Kurth 506; known from only three specimens), and this type with only the city name on the reverse. Kurth knew of only the BM specimen at the time of her publication. This appears to be the third known specimen of an already rare type. Compelled to capture the bull as his seventh Labor, Herakles sailed to Crete. Minos, the king of Crete, gave the hero permission to take the bull away, as it had been causing destruction on the island. Herakles subdued the Bull with his bare hands, and shipped it back to Athens. Although Eurystheus wished to sacrifice the Bull to Hera, the goddess refused the sacrifice because it reflected glory on her sworn enemy. The bull was released and wandered into the town of Marathon, where it became known as the Marathonian Bull. Estimate: 100 USD |  |
Match 2:
| Classical Numismatic Group > Triton XXVII | Auction date: 9 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 808 Price realized: 32,500 USD (Approx. 29,767 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Septimius Severus. AD 193-211. Æ Medallion (41mm, 59.51 g, 1h). Rome mint. Struck AD 194. L • SEPTIMIVS • SEVERVS PERTINAX • AVG IMP IIII, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / [P] M TR P III [COS] II P P, FIDEI • MILIT, Septimius Severus standing left on däis, right hand raised in salute and holding scepter with left; behind him, Caracalla and Geta, both in military attire, standing left; before, six soldiers standing right, the front row holding shields, the back row holding two signa and a vexillum. Gnecchi II, 16 (pl. 94, 7); Banti 51; Cohen 152; Grueber 3; Froehner p. 153. Attractive dark green and brown patina, slight roughness, a few light scratches. Good VF. Extremely rare. A very impressive piece. Ex Triton XX (10 January 2017), lot 786; Gorny & Mosch 232 (5 October 2015), lot 456. Although Septimius Severus is often described as first of the "soldier emperors," his early career was almost entirely civilian, rising steadily through the ladder of Roman magistracies, much like his predecessors. Nevertheless, his reign proved a major step in militarizing Roman government and life. He entered the Senate in AD 173 and gained some early military experience as legionary officer in Africa and Syria, where he served under the later Emperor Pertinax. After reaching the Consulship in AD 190, he was appointed as governor of Pannonia Superior, which placed him in command of Legio XIIII Gemina Martia Victrix, strategically located within easy march of Italy and Rome. With the assassination of Commodus in AD 193, followed within weeks by the murder of his mentor Pertinax, Severus was hailed as emperor by the XIIIIth at Carnuntum. A lightning march to Rome deposed the pathetic Didius Julianus and placed Severus in firm control of the capital, whereupon he immediately prepared for civil war against two rivals who had likewise been proclaimed in the provinces, Clodius Albinus and Pescinnius Niger. Though wealthy and connected, Severus was from a "new" family and relied heavily on the army to cement his power. He raised military pay and showed his troops many preferments, including ending the longtime ban on marriage for regular soldiers. The army began to think of him as one of their own and, after disposing of Niger and Albinus, he suffered no revolts or serious internal threats for the rest of his reign. This remarkable bronze medallion, struck in AD 194 for presentation to a senior officer, depicts Severus being hailed as Imperator (victorious general) by his soldiers. Behind him stand his sons, Caracalla and Geta, whom he told on his deathbed, "get along with one another, enrich the soldiers, and despise everyone else!" Estimate: 15000 USD |  |
Match 3:
| Classical Numismatic Group > Electronic Auction 561 | Auction date: 1 May 2024 |
| Lot number: 502 Price realized: 120 USD (Approx. 112 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: EGYPT, Alexandria. Trajan. AD 98-117. Æ Drachm (35mm, 19.60 g, 12h). Dated RY 17 (AD 113/4). AYT TPAIAN CЄB ΓЄPM ΔAKIK, radiate half-length nude bust right, seen from the front, aegis on left shoulder / Apollo standing left, head right, holding branch; to right, Artemis standing facing, head left, drawing arrow from quiver at shoulder and bow; L I Z (date) across field. Köln 631 var. (laureate bust); Dattari (Savio) 799 var. (same); K&G 27.531 var. (same); RPC III 4780.4 var. (same); Emmett 402.17. Brown patina, cleaning scratches, light porosity, trace deposits. Near VF. Extremely rare, unpublished in the major references. This reverse type was only struck for Trajan for two regnal years, RY 16 and 17. The radiate bust is not recorded for either year paired with this reverse. Estimate: 200 USD |  |
Match 4:
| Classical Numismatic Group > Electronic Auction 553 | Auction date: 3 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 259 Price realized: 170 USD (Approx. 154 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: MOESIA INFERIOR, Nicopolis ad Istrum. Macrinus. AD 217-218. Æ Tetrassarion (27mm, 14.49 g, 7h). Marcus Claudius Agrippa, legatus Augusti pro praetore. Laureate head right / Asclepius standing facing, head left, leaning on serpent-entwined staff to left, gathering himation with right. HH&J 8.23.20.5; AMNG –; Varbanov 3381. Green patina, smoothing, hairline flan crack, reverse scratches. Good VF. Very rare, only four in CoinArchives. From the W. Toliver Besson Collection. Ex Lanz 164 (23 May 2017), lot 236 (hammer €350). Estimate: 100 USD |  |
