| Portuscalle Numismatica > December 2023 Auction | Auction date: 10 December 2023 |
| Lot number: 512 Price realized: 850 EUR (Approx. 928 USD) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Migration of the Germanic Tribes Pseudo-Imperial Coinage. Unofficial issue in the name of Justinian I, 527-565, AV Tremissis 1.42 g. DN IVDTIIIVSPPΛVCC Diademed and draped bust r., with cross on chest. Rev. VICTORI – AACVSTORV Stylized Victory advancing r., holding wreath and palm branch; in exergue, CONOD. AU Starting price: 800 EUR |  |
Match 1:
| Portuscalle Numismatica > December 2023 Auction | Auction date: 10 December 2023 |
| Lot number: 513 Price realized: 4,000 EUR (Approx. 4,366 USD) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Migration of the Germanic Tribes The Suevi, temp. Rechiar, 448 – 455. Tremissis in the name of Valentinian III with half star, without mint name late 5th-6th centuries, AV Tremissis 1.40 g. Pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust r. Rev. Cross pattée within wreath and with central jewel; flanked by two curved rectangles. Below, CONOB. AG 02.04 var. About UNC. Extremely rare. Starting price: 4000 EUR |  |
Match 2:
| Roma Numismatics Ltd > Auction XXX | Auction date: 21 March 2024 |
| Lot number: 580 Price realized: 2,200 GBP (Approx. 2,787 USD / 2,566 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Pseudo-imperial, Merovingians AV Solidus. In the name of Justin I, circa AD 518-527. ƆI IVSTINVS P F AVC (sic), pearl-diademed, helmeted and cuirassed bust facing, holding spear and shield decorated with horseman motif / VICTORA AVCCCΛ, Victory standing to left, holding long cross, star in left field; CONOB in exergue. Belfort 5152 var. (I instead of N in obv. legend, P of christogram not present); MEC I -; Subjak Collection -; cf. CNG 72, 2272. 3.89g, 20mm, 6h. Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare. From Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction XXV, 22 September 2022, lot 1143; Ex Argenor Numismatique, 17 April 2008, lot 72. Estimate: 750 GBP |  |
Match 3:
| Numismatica Ars Classica > Auction 144 with CNG & NGSA | Auction date: 8 May 2024 |
| Lot number: 1061 Price realized: 20,000 CHF (Approx. 22,107 USD / 20,535 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: The Geoffrey Cope Collection of Ancient Greek and Roman Bronzes. The Roman Empire. Plotina, wife of Trajan. Description Sestertius, Roma 112-117, Æ 34 mm, 26.89 g. PLOTINA AVG – IMP TRAIANI Diademed and draped bust r., wearing double metal stephane. Rev. FIDES – AVGVST S – C Fides standing r., holding basket of fruit with l. hand and barley ears in r. Reference C 12 Reference BMC Trajan 1080 RIC Trajan 740 CBN Trajan 730 L. D'Orazi, La collezione Numismatica di Prospero Sarti e il Mistero del Ripostiglio di Bolsena, in Quaderni di Studio XV, 2020, p. 150 (this coin illustrated) Woytek 711 Condition Extremely rare and in unusually fine condition for the issue. A superb portrait of excellent style struck in high relief and a brown-green patina. Surface somewhat rough, otherwise about extremely fine / good very fine Provenance Sangiorgi sale 7th May 1906, Sarti, 349 Sangiorgi sale 18th November 1907, Martinetti-Nervegna, 1913 From a hoard of the end of XIX century (Bolsena ?) Note: The coin is published in Coin Week. It is impossible to assess the influence Plotina had on her husband, Trajan, for she is scarcely mentioned in the ancient sources. If we are to believe Dio Cassius (68.5.5) and the far later Historia Augusta, she was a modest woman who, if anything, was a restraining force who insisted on high moral standards. Both relate a story that when Plotina entered the imperial palace for the first time as the wife of an emperor, she turned to those gathered at the steps and declared "I enter here such a woman as I would wish to be when I leave." Despite her apparent moral rigour, she is chiefly remembered for her undying support for her husband's eventual successor, Hadrian. The Historia Augusta describes how Trajan was not particularly fond of Hadrian, but that Plotina insisted on his marriage to Sabina, the daughter of Trajan's niece Matidia. The worst accusations, however, concern Plotina's role in assuring that Hadrian succeeded Trajan, who most sources suggest had made no provisions for Hadrian at the time of his death. Eutropius reports: "After Trajan's death Aelius Hadrian was appointed emperor, not, indeed, through any desire on the part of Trajan, but through the agency of Plotina, Trajan's wife, for Trajan, while he was still alive, had refused to adopt him although he was the son of his cousin." (Breviarium 8.6). The sources present a wide array of scenarios. We are told that Plotina delayed the announcement of her husband's death so she could forge a letter of adoption that named Hadrian his successor, or that she lied about the content of the will. The Historia Augusta goes so far as to suggest that after Trajan was dead, Plotina had someone imitate his tired voice to proclaim Hadrian his successor. Even the most flattering versions suggest Plotina went to great effort to convince Trajan, on his deathbed, to adopt Hadrian. The Historia Augusta and Cassius Dio suggest two other men, Trajan's brother-in-law L. Julius Servianus and his confidant L. Neratius Priscus, were his preferred heirs. It was also rumoured that he intended to name no candidate at all, but to leave it to the senate to appoint his successor. If Plotina engineered the accession of Hadrian, she was one of the great architects of the Roman world, and changed the course of history in ways that might be hard to fathom. Hadrian's principate was surely unique, and his decision to reverse the expansionist policies of Trajan had a profound effect on the course of events. Estimate: 7500 CHF |  |
Match 4:
| Hess-Divo AG > Auction 341 | Auction date: 13 December 2023 |
| Lot number: 132 Price realized: 13,000 CHF (Approx. 14,835 USD / 13,757 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: COINS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. MAGNUS MAXIMUS, AD 383-388. Solidus, London (Augusta), about 383. AV 4.37 g. DN MAG MAX - IMVS PF AVG Draped, cuirassed bust r. with laurel-rosette diadem. Rev. RESTITVTOR - REI PVBLICAE / AVG Emperor, wearing military costume and cloak, standing facing, head turned r. towards Victory with wreath on globe on his l. hand, holding labarum in his r. hand. Bastien Donativa 100, a; Depeyrot II, 106, 1/1; RIC IX, 2, 1. Extremely rare. Dark yellow tone. Extremely fine There have been discussions about the identification of the mint with the mint-mark AVG (or AVCOB). The attribution to Londinium-Augusta was first advanced by Sir A. Evans in 1915 (NC) but was rejected by G. Elmer in NZ 1934 and by F. Mayreder in 1947 (NC). They preferred the attribution to Augustodunum (the modern Autun in Burgundy/France). We follow J.W.E Pearce who, in RIC IX, page 1 took up again the hypothesis advanced by A. Evans. Estimate: 10000 CHF |  |
Match 5:
| Numismatica Ars Classica > Auction 144 with CNG & NGSA | Auction date: 8 May 2024 |
| Lot number: 1134 Price realized: 24,000 CHF (Approx. 26,528 USD / 24,642 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: The Geoffrey Cope Collection of Ancient Greek and Roman Bronzes. The Roman Empire. Julia Mamaea, mother of Severus Alexander. Description Bronze, Tium (Bithynia) circa 222-235, Æ 34 mm, 23.01 g. ΙΟΥΛΙΑ ΜΑΜΑΙΑ ΑΥΓ Diademed and draped bust r. Rev. ΤΙΑΝΩΝ Zeus, standing facing, head l., holding patera and sceptre; in l. field, eagle; in field, Gaia and Thalassa; around, the twelve signs of the Zodiac. Reference RPC Online 30121 (this coin) Condition Apparently unique. A coin of great importance and fascination struck on a medallic flan. Lovely brown tone and extremely fine Provenance Leu sale 50, 1990, 347 Note: Julia Mamaea was a niece of Julia Domna, the wife of Septimius Severus, and a member of a powerful priestly dynasty at Emesa in Syria. She was propelled into imperial history when her mother, Julia Maesa, and her sister, Julia Soaemias, raised the revolt that made her nephew, Elagabalus, Roman emperor. Mamaea's husband was killed in the fighting that earned Elagabalus the throne, but she and her son, Severus Alexander, were able to follow Elagabalus to Rome and enjoy court life in the imperial capital. The behaviour of Elagabalus shocked elements of Roman society and the young Severus Alexander was increasingly seen as a preferred option for the emperor. Thus, when Elagabalus was assassinated in 222, the 16-year-old Alexander became emperor, but real power was taken into the hands of his mother. She and a council of senators, including the famous jurist Ulpian, essentially ruled the empire in the name of Severus Alexander until 235, when the German legions revolted and killed both the emperor and his mother. Her stinginess with pay had upset the troops while her long coddling of Severus Alexander and protecting him from danger made him a man that no hard-bitten frontier soldier could respect. This unique coin was struck in honour of Julia Mamaea at the Bithynian city of Tium and is remarkable for its reverse type depicting the standing figure of Zeus surrounded by the wheel of the zodiac. The precise meaning of the type is uncertain, but it may have had some local astrological significance since Tium had previously struck a similar zodiac type for Elagabalus. On the other hand, zodiac types may have had some special Severan dynastic significance. Zodiac wheels also occur on coins struck for Elagabalus at Sidon, for Julia Maesa at Amastris and for Severus Alexander at Perinthus and Cyzicus. Estimate: 10000 CHF |  |
