| Heritage World Coin Auctions > Showcase Auction 61395 | Auction date: 4 August 2024 |
| Lot number: 22314 Price realized: 8,500 USD (Approx. 7,877 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Ancients L. Cestius and C. Norbanus (43 BC). AV aureus (20mm, 7.96 gm, 1h). NGC Choice AU 3/5 - 4/5. Rome, ca. January-April 43 BC. Draped bust of Africa right, seen from front, wearing elephant skin headdress over helmet; large dotted border / L•CESTIVS / C•NORBA, curule chair with legs decorated with eagles flying right, back decorated with confronted coiled serpents; EX•S•C-P R in exergue, dotted border. Calicó 4 (same dies). Crawford 491/1b. Sydenham 1154. Cestia 2 and Norbana 4. Scarce. This eye-catching early Roman aureus is exquisite with its shimmering radiate surfaces. Ex New York Sale XL (11 January 2017), lot 1167; Baldwin's Auctions, Auction 99 (4 May 2016), lot 6; Aurora Collection (New York Sale XXXII, 8 January 2014), lot 2; Numismatica Ars Classica 63 (17 May 2012), lot 486; Triton III (30 November 1999), lot 828. This intriguing gold aureus belongs to the 12 months immediately following the assassination of Julius Caesar, which produced a chaotic situation in Rome when the Senate briefly regained its preeminence and a host of unlikely alliances were formed and broken up. Octavian, Caesar's young heir, allied himself with Cicero and the Senate against Marc Antony, who, following the end of his Consulship on 1 January 43 BC, took an army north to attack Decimus Albinus Brutus, one of the assassins, who had been appointed by the Senate as governor of Cisalpine Gaul. The new Consuls Hirtius and Pansa, in turn, raised a Senatorial army and set off to attack Antony, ostensibly with Octavian's support. Lucius Cestius and Gaius Norbanus, both Caesarians and supporters of Octavian, were elected Praetors for 43 BC and ordered the striking of this issue of gold aurei to pay the Senatorial soldiers. Two of the new legions were raised in Africa, reflected by the personification on the obverse of this piece. The curule chair on the reverse reflects the authority of the Consuls and Praetors. The alliance between Octavian and Senate would prove to be short-lived, and the latter's renewed authority was swept away when Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus formed the Second Triumvirate. https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/roman-republic/ancients-l-cestius-and-c-norbanus-43-bc-av-aureus-20mm-796-gm-1h-ngc-choice-au-3-5-4-5/a/61395-22314.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-61395-08042024 HID02906262019 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved |  |
Match 1:
| Heritage World Coin Auctions > CSNS Signature Sale 3115 | Auction date: 8 May 2024 |
| Lot number: 31041 Price realized: 10,000 USD (Approx. 9,303 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Ancients L. Cestius and C. Norbanus (43 BC). AV aureus (20mm, 7.96 gm, 1h). NGC Choice AU 3/5 - 4/5. Rome, ca. January-April 43 BC. Draped bust of Africa right, seen from front, wearing elephant skin headdress over helmet; large dotted border / L•CESTIVS / EX•S•C-P R / C•NORBA, curule chair with legs decorated with eagles flying right, back decorated with confronted coiled serpents; dotted border. Calicó 4 (same dies). Crawford 491/1b. Sydenham 1154. Cestia 2 and Norbana 4. Scarce. This eye-catching early Roman aureus is exquisite with its shimmering radiate surfaces. Ex New York Sale XL (11 January 2017), lot 1167; Baldwin's Auctions, Auction 99 (4 May 2016), lot 6; Aurora Collection (New York Sale XXXII, 8 January 2014), lot 2; Numismatica Ars Classica 63 (17 May 2012), lot 486; Triton III (30 November 1999), lot 828. This intriguing gold aureus belongs to the 12 months immediately following the assassination of Julius Caesar, which produced a chaotic situation in Rome when the Senate briefly regained its preeminence and a host of unlikely alliances were formed and broken up. Octavian, Caesar's young heir, allied himself with Cicero and the Senate against Marc Antony, who, following the end of his Consulship on 1 January 43 BC, took an army north to attack Decimus Albinus Brutus, one of the assassins, who had been appointed by the Senate as governor of Cisalpine Gaul. The new Consuls Hirtius and Pansa, in turn, raised a Senatorial army and set off to attack Antony, ostensibly with Octavian's support. Lucius Cestius and Gaius Norbanus, both Caesarians and supporters of Octavian, were elected Praetors for 43 BC and ordered the striking of this issue of gold aurei to pay the Senatorial soldiers. Two of the new legions were raised in Africa, reflected by the personification on the obverse of this piece. The curule chair on the reverse reflects the authority of the Consuls and Praetors. The alliance between Octavian and Senate would prove to be short-lived, and the latter's renewed authority was swept away when Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus formed the Second Triumvirate. https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/roman-republic/ancients-l-cestius-and-c-norbanus-43-bc-av-aureus-20mm-796-gm-1h-ngc-choice-au-3-5-4-5/a/3115-31041.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3115-05082024 HID02906262019 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved Estimate: 8000-10000 USD |  |
Match 2:
| Heritage World Coin Auctions > Showcase Auction 61395 | Auction date: 4 August 2024 |
| Lot number: 22314 Price realized: 8,500 USD (Approx. 7,877 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Ancients L. Cestius and C. Norbanus (43 BC). AV aureus (20mm, 7.96 gm, 1h). NGC Choice AU 3/5 - 4/5. Rome, ca. January-April 43 BC. Draped bust of Africa right, seen from front, wearing elephant skin headdress over helmet; large dotted border / L•CESTIVS / C•NORBA, curule chair with legs decorated with eagles flying right, back decorated with confronted coiled serpents; EX•S•C-P R in exergue, dotted border. Calicó 4 (same dies). Crawford 491/1b. Sydenham 1154. Cestia 2 and Norbana 4. Scarce. This eye-catching early Roman aureus is exquisite with its shimmering radiate surfaces. Ex New York Sale XL (11 January 2017), lot 1167; Baldwin's Auctions, Auction 99 (4 May 2016), lot 6; Aurora Collection (New York Sale XXXII, 8 January 2014), lot 2; Numismatica Ars Classica 63 (17 May 2012), lot 486; Triton III (30 November 1999), lot 828. This intriguing gold aureus belongs to the 12 months immediately following the assassination of Julius Caesar, which produced a chaotic situation in Rome when the Senate briefly regained its preeminence and a host of unlikely alliances were formed and broken up. Octavian, Caesar's young heir, allied himself with Cicero and the Senate against Marc Antony, who, following the end of his Consulship on 1 January 43 BC, took an army north to attack Decimus Albinus Brutus, one of the assassins, who had been appointed by the Senate as governor of Cisalpine Gaul. The new Consuls Hirtius and Pansa, in turn, raised a Senatorial army and set off to attack Antony, ostensibly with Octavian's support. Lucius Cestius and Gaius Norbanus, both Caesarians and supporters of Octavian, were elected Praetors for 43 BC and ordered the striking of this issue of gold aurei to pay the Senatorial soldiers. Two of the new legions were raised in Africa, reflected by the personification on the obverse of this piece. The curule chair on the reverse reflects the authority of the Consuls and Praetors. The alliance between Octavian and Senate would prove to be short-lived, and the latter's renewed authority was swept away when Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus formed the Second Triumvirate. https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/roman-republic/ancients-l-cestius-and-c-norbanus-43-bc-av-aureus-20mm-796-gm-1h-ngc-choice-au-3-5-4-5/a/61395-22314.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-61395-08042024 HID02906262019 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved | |
Match 3:
| Heritage World Coin Auctions > CSNS Signature Sale 3115 | Auction date: 8 May 2024 |
| Lot number: 31098 Price realized: 5,250 USD (Approx. 4,884 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Ancients Trajan Decius (AD 249-251). AV aureus (20mm, 4.94 gm, 1h). NGC Choice AU 5/5 - 3/5. Rome. IMP C M Q TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG, laureate, cuirassed bust of Trajan Decius right, seen from behind / PANNONIAE, two Pannoniae standing facing, veiled heads turned outward, each with standard in outer hand, right figure with right hand raised. Calicó 3295. RIC IV.III 21a var. (laureate, draped, and cuirassed). Attractive portrait. Bright flashing surfaces. Born on the Danubian frontier, Gaius Messius Quintus Trajanus Decius came to the throne with a ready-made agenda for the restoration of Rome's fading glory. He tried several innovations on the financial front, including the introduction of a new coin denomination, the double-sestertius. Despite these measures, the gold coinage of Decius shows a sharp acceleration in the debasement witnessed over the previous two decades, which had seen the aureus drop from about 6.5 grams under Severus Alexander (AD 222-235) to about 4.5 grams under Philip I (AD 244-249). Aurei struck near the beginning of his reign average about the same as Philip's, but this plummets by more than a gram over the course of the next 18 months. Perhaps seeking to confiscate their estates and replenish the treasury, he cracked down harshly on those he believed were undermining the ancient traditions of Rome. Christianity was particularly singled out, and thousands of Christians were forced to either make sacrifice to Rome's gods or face torture, execution and seizure of assets. Renewed barbarian invasions late in AD 250 took his attention away from domestic affairs. Seeking a decisive battle, Decius pursued the fleeing Goths into the marshes of Abrittus and straight into an ambush. Decius and about half of his army perished in the debacle, the first time a Roman emperor had fallen to a foreign enemy. The Christians claimed it was God's revenge on an arch-persecutor. In any case, the catastrophe at Abrittus accelerated the Roman Empire's slide into anarchy. https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/roman-imperial/ancients-trajan-decius-ad-249-251-av-aureus-20mm-494-gm-1h-ngc-choice-au-5-5-3-5/a/3115-31098.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3115-05082024 HID02906262019 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved Estimate: 7500-8500 USD |  |
Match 4:
| Heritage World Coin Auctions > CSNS Signature Sale 3115 | Auction date: 8 May 2024 |
| Lot number: 31087 Price realized: 12,000 USD (Approx. 11,164 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Ancients Lucilla (AD 164-182/3). AV aureus (20mm, 7.22 gm, 1h). NGC Choice AU 5/5 - 5/5. Rome, AD 164-169. LVCILLAE AVG ANTONINI AVG F, draped bust of Lucilla right, seen from side, hair weaved and coiled at back of head in chignon / V-E-NVS, Venus standing facing, head left, apple in outstretched right hand, grounded scepter in left. Calicó 2218 (same dies). RIC III (Marcus Aurelius) 783. Stupendous example with a lovely youthful portrait of the empress that was boldly struck on a bright toned flan. Ex Dr. Hans Krähenbühl Collection (Leu Numismatik, Auction 8, 23 October 2021), lot 312; Gerhard Hirsch, Auction XLVIII (22-24 June 1966), lot 39. The second of six daughters born to Marcus Aurelius and Faustina Junior, Lucilla grew up as an imperial princess, with the strange mix of power and helplessness such a position entailed in ancient Rome. In AD 161, at the age of 12, she was betrothed to Lucius Verus, who was her father's adoptive brother and co-emperor. The marriage took place three years later in Ephesus, while Lucius was on campaign against the Parthians in the East. Although Lucius had a wandering eye and Lucilla was no model of fidelity, the marriage endured until his sudden death from a stroke in AD 169. Much against her wishes, her father then married her off to a distinguished elderly senator, Tiberius Claudius Pompienus. Although her husband was one of the most powerful men in government, Lucilla was no longer Augusta, or empress, a situation she found increasingly intolerable. The death of Marcus and the accession of her brother Commodus, in AD 180, made matters worse, since she frequently quarreled with him and envied his wife, Crispina, who now held the title of Augusta. In AD 182, she entered into a plot with one of her lovers to do away with Commodus. But the assassin hesitated after drawing the knife and was wrestled to the ground before he could strike. When Lucilla's role in the plot was exposed, she was arrested and exiled to the island of Capri. Her death, either by starvation or execution, came shortly thereafter. https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/roman-imperial/ancients-lucilla-ad-164-182-3-av-aureus-20mm-722-gm-1h-ngc-choice-au-5-5-5-5/a/3115-31087.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3115-05082024 HID02906262019 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved Estimate: 6000-8000 USD |  |
Match 5:
| Heritage World Coin Auctions > CSNS Signature Sale 3115 | Auction date: 8 May 2024 |
| Lot number: 32279 Price realized: 5,000 USD (Approx. 4,652 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Ancients Diva Faustina Senior (AD 138-140/1). AV aureus (20mm, 7.21 gm, 6h). NGC Choice AU 5/5 - 3/5, edge marks. Rome, ca. AD 146-161. DIVA-FAVSTINA, draped bust of Diva Faustina Senior right, seen from front, hair elaborately waved in several loops around head under thin band, braided, drawn up and coiled on top with pearls / AETER-NITAS, Fortuna standing facing, head left, patera in outstretched right hand, rudder in left. Calicó 1743. RIC III (Antoninus Pius) 349a. Absolutely gorgeous specimen with a beautiful, matronly portrait of Diva Faustina Senior. The artist seemed to pay particularly close attention to the details of her intricate hairstyle. Only two years into Antoninus' reign, his wife Faustina died of an unknown illness. The grief-stricken Antoninus secured her deification and issued an immense coinage in her name, the largest for any Roman woman to that point. While the staid Roman historians of later eras criticized her lack of "gravitas," Antoninus was devoted to her and the cult he established in her name became exceedingly popular, particularly with women. Her temple was later also consecrated to Divus Antoninus upon his death and deification, and is one of the few Roman structures that survives more or less intact in the Forum today. This elegant aureus is a rare variant that depicts a beautifully modeled figure of Fortuna, goddess of good fortune, holding both a patera and tiller. https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/roman-imperial/ancients-diva-faustina-senior-ad-138-140-1-av-aureus-20mm-721-gm-6h-ngc-choice-au-5-5-3-5-edge-marks/a/3115-32279.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3115-05082024 HID02906262019 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved |  |
Match 6:
| Heritage World Coin Auctions > CSNS Signature Sale 3115 | Auction date: 8 May 2024 |
| Lot number: 31083 Price realized: 8,500 USD (Approx. 7,908 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Ancients Antoninus Pius, as Augustus (AD 138-161). AV aureus (20mm, 7.28 gm, 6h). NGC Choice AU 5/5 - 4/5, Fine Style. Rome, AD 152-153. ANTONINVS AVG-PIVS P P TR P XVI, bare-headed, draped, and cuirassed bust of Antoninus Pius left, seen from behind / CO-S-IIII, Antoninus Pius standing facing, head left, togate, with globe in outstretched right hand, volumen in left. Calicó 1523, same obverse die; reverse die of 1519. RIC III 226e. Lifelike, high relief portrait upon a softly lustrous flan. Ex Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 125 (23 June 2021), lot 125; Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 95 (6 October 2016), lot 277; Künker, Auction 133 (11 October 2007), lot 8878; Künker, Auction 111 (18 March 2006), lot 6759; Hess-Leu, Auction 24 (16 April 1964), lot 304; Bement Collection (Ars Classica VIII, 25-28 June 1924), lot 950; Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge (6 December 1907), lot 130. https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/roman-imperial/ancients-antoninus-pius-as-augustus-ad-138-161-av-aureus-20mm-728-gm-6h-ngc-choice-au-5-5-4-5-fine-style/a/3115-31083.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3115-05082024 HID02906262019 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved Estimate: 10000-12000 USD |  |
