| Roma Numismatics Ltd > Auction XXX | Auction date: 21 March 2024 |
| Lot number: 458 Price realized: 22,000 GBP (Approx. 27,869 USD / 25,659 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Marcus Aurelius AV Aureus. Rome, AD 177-178. M AVREL▾ANTONINVS▾AVG▾, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust to right / TR P XXXII▾IMP VIIII COS III P ▾P, Annona standing to left, holding cornucopiae and two ears of corn over modius at feet on left; prow to right at feet on right. RIC III 389; C. 957 var. (bust type); BMCRE 771 (same obv. die); Biaggi 905 (this coin); Faces of Power 302 (same obv. die); Calicó 2020 (same dies) corr. (bust type). 7.35g, 20mm, 12h. NGC graded Ch MS 5/5 - 4/5, light mark (#6674257-002). Ex Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction XXIII, 24 March 2022, lot 996 (hammer: GBP 32,000); Ex Numismatica Ars Classica AG, Auction 119 with Jesús Vico S.A., 6 October 2020, lot 111, then sold with an export licence issued by the government of Spain; Privately purchased from Cayón Numismática, 1981; Ex Leo Biaggi de Blasys Collection; Privately purchased from H. A. Cahn in June 1950. Annona was the divine personification of the grain supply to the city of Rome, a creation of Imperial pseudo-religious propaganda, manifested in iconography and cult practice, but lacking in narrative mythology or a historical tradition of devotion. The Roman government used the term Cura Annonae ("care for the grain supply"), in reference to the import and distribution of grain to the residents of the city of Rome. Rome imported most of the grain consumed by its urban population, estimated to number one million people by the second century AD. Most of this grain was distributed through commercial or non-subsidized channels, but a dole of subsidized or free grain, and later bread, was provided by the government to about 200,000 of the poorer residents of the city of Rome. It has been estimated that each year as much as 60,000,000 modii of grain (about 420,000 tonnes) reached the city, equivalent to approximately 1,200 large vessels containing 50,000 modii (about 350 tonnes) each. The grain ships that sailed principally from Egypt and Africa, and the shipping lanes they travelled were therefore of strategic importance. Whoever controlled the grain supply had an important measure of control over the city of Rome, which was utterly reliant on regular imports. The depiction of Annona with a modius and grain ship on this coin is therefore closely associated with the principate, being one of the most ubiquitous and important manifestations of the emperor's power to care for his people. The date when the Cura Annonae ended is unknown, but it may have lasted even into the 6th century, by which time the population of Rome had greatly declined through famine, war and economic ruin to as little as 100,000. The great machinery of empire that had once spanned all of Europe and sustained the greatest city on earth had been effectively shattered by barbarian migration and subsequent warfare, and with the eventual disappearance of the great grain fleets it would not be until the sixteenth century that vessels of similar tonnages would ply the waters of the Mediterranean again. Estimate: 25000 GBP |  |
Match 1:
| Roma Numismatics Ltd > E-Sale 119 | Auction date: 24 April 2024 |
| Lot number: 1428 Price realized: 45 GBP (Approx. 56 USD / 52 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Marcus Aurelius Æ Sestertius. Rome, AD 177-178. M AVREL ANTONINVS AVG TR P XXXII, laureate head to right / FELICITAS AVG IMP VIIII COS III P P, Felicitas standing to left, holding caduceus and sceptre; S-C across fields. RIC III 1227; BMCRE 1676. 24.36g, 31mm, 6h. Near Very Fine. Estimate: 75 GBP |  |
Match 2:
| Numisfitz GmbH > Auction 3 | Auction date: 3 December 2023 |
| Lot number: 678 Price realized: 130 EUR (Approx. 142 USD) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: MARCUS AURELIUS (161-180). Denarius. Rome. Obv: M AVREL ANTONINVS AVG. Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right. Rev: TR P XXXIII IMP X COS III P P. Fortuna seated left, holding rudder and cornucopia, wheel below seat. RIC 402. Condition: Good very fine. Weight: 3,44 g. Diameter: 18 mm. Starting price: 75 EUR |  |
Match 3:
| Roma Numismatics Ltd > Auction XXX | Auction date: 21 March 2024 |
| Lot number: 481 Price realized: 15,000 GBP (Approx. 19,002 USD / 17,495 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Philip I AV Aureus. Rome, AD 245. IMP M IVL PHILIPPVS AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust to right / P M TR P II COS P P, emperor seated to left on curule chair, holding globe and short sceptre. RIC IV 2a; C. 119 var. (bust type); Biaggi 1381; Bland, Gold 14 (dies PI 11/TRP II 03); Calicó 3254. 4.34g, 21mm, 6h. Extremely Fine. Very Rare; one of only six examples to appear at auction in the past two decades, of which this is one of the two finest specimens. Ex Classical Numismatic Group, Auction 117, 19 May 2021, lot 593 (hammer: USD 26,000). Philip I, a man of Arab descent who rose to the post of Praetorian Prefect under Gordian III (AD 238-244), became emperor after allegedly staging a coup against the young emperor while they were on campaign in Persia. Although the empire was beset with many troubles, the reign started off with some promise. Philip was a conscientious ruler who showed tolerance toward Christians and other persecuted groups. He spent much of his reign on campaign on the Danube subduing invasions by Germanic tribes, but returned to Rome to preside over the Saecular Games in AD 248 which marked the one-thousandth year anniversary of Rome's founding, along with his son Philip II whom he had elevated to co-Augustus. Unfortunately, trouble on the frontiers prompted Philip to dispatch the general Trajan Decius to quell the rebellions and deal with barbarian incursions. Instead, Decius was proclaimed emperor by the discontented legions in AD 249 and immediately marched on Rome. The elder Philip's army met the usurper near modern Verona that summer, but was easily defeated. Philip himself either died in battle or was assassinated by his soldiers soon after (Michael L. Meckler, Philip the Arab). Gold coins dating from the reign of Philip I are exceptionally rare due to the increasing scarcity of precious metals in the mid-third century. This coin is one of the finest of only six examples of the type to appear at auction in the past two decades, and it depicts the emperor so well-known for the violence which bookended his reign as a consummate civil leader, seated on a curule chair - the ancient symbol of magisterial power likely as old as Rome itself. Estimate: 17500 GBP |  |
Match 4:
| Roma Numismatics Ltd > Auction XXX | Auction date: 21 March 2024 |
| Lot number: 445 Price realized: 4,200 GBP (Approx. 5,320 USD / 4,899 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Hadrian AV Aureus. Rome, AD 118. IMP CAESAR TRAIAN HADRIANVS AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust to right / P M TR P COS II, Fortuna seated to left, holding rudder and cornucopiae; FORT RED in exergue. RIC II.3 113; C. 746; BMCRE 72 (same rev. die); Biaggi 608; Calicó 1259 (same rev. die). 7.14g, 19mm, 7h. Extremely Fine; well-centred. Very Rare. Estimate: 4000 GBP |  |
Match 5:
| The Coin Cabinet Ltd. > The Euclidean Collection | Auction date: 28 March 2024 |
| Lot number: 317 Price realized: 180 GBP (Approx. 227 USD / 210 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: About Very Fine | ROMAN EMPIRE. Commodus. Bronze sestertius, AD 181. Rome. Obv: M COMMODVS ANTONINVS AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right. Rev: TR P VI IMP IIII COS III P P, Emperor seated left on platform, attended by officer, overseeing distribution of largesse; S-C across lower fields, LIB AVG IIII in exergue. About Very Fine. Reference: RIC III-310; BMCRE-456. Provenance: from the Euclidean Collection; acquired from David Miller, November 2017. Die Axis: 6h. Diameter: 33 mm. Weight: 25.45 g. Composition: Bronze. PLEASE NOTE: 20% Buyer Premium + VAT on this lot. No other fees, including live bidding. Delivery cost will be added to your order. Estimate: 150 GBP Starting price: 75 GBP |  |
