11645. TRAJAN AD 98-117. AE Sestertius (34mm, 26.54 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 103-104. IMP CAES AVG GER DAC NERVAE TRAIANO PM TR P COS VPP; laureate bust of Trajan right, slight drapery over left shoulder. / SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI / SC; view of the Circus Maximus. Crawford 546 (variant); RIC II 571 (variant); Strack 391, Woytek 175b; BMC 856 (variant); BN 220; MIR 175b; buildings p. 38 ff # 70; Hill, Monuments p. 47 with fig . 72nd. Good VF, Black green patina, some roughness on surfaces. Very rare. Well centered with excellent fine detail of the Circus none of which is obscured by the slight roughness. One can even see the tiny heads of the spectators in the stands.

This detailed view of the Circus Maximus shows a colonnaded front (the Duodecim Portae), with arched gateways surmounted by statues of quadrigae; the temple of Sol along the back wall; within, from left to right: first meta (turning point), equestrian statue of Trajan, the obelisk of Augustus, the shrine of Cybele riding a lion, and a second meta and lap counter.

SOLD.

$35,000.

Died c. 100 AD. Marcus Ulpius Traianus father of the emperor Trajan, commanded the 10th Legion during the Jewish War and conquered the city of Joppa. Named consul in 70 AD, he became governor of Syria and proconsul of Asia.

SOLD.

The reverse depicts the column of the divine Antoninus Pius, the shaft and base of which survive. The latter, now in the Vatican, employs both Classical and traditionally plebeian styles and marks an artistic transition in imperially sponsored monuments.

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This issue raises three important questions. The first regards where it was minted. While the general consensus assigns it to a mint in Cyprus, this attribution is tenuous, and Crete, the northern Balkans, and Rome itself have been suggested as equally plausible alternatives. The second question regards its strike date. If the obverse legend for this coin follows the pattern set at Rome, then this coin had to be struck after 147 AD when the DIVA FAVSTINA obverse legend was instituted. The third question then regards the purpose for which this coin was struck. Galerius Antoninus was the natural son of Antoninus Pius and Faustina Senior. When he had died before his father had been made Caesar, Hadrian compelled Antoninus Pius, now without any natural son, to adopt Lucius Verus, the son of Hadrian's previous Caesar, and Marcus Aurelius as his own sons and heirs. In AD 147 Faustina Junior, Antoninus Pius' only surviving child, was created Augusta upon her marriage to Marcus Aurelius. In the flurry of issues struck to commemorate this event and the formation of a new dynasty, it is quite possible that this issue was struck to commemorate the young boy's premature death and include him in an as yet uncertain way into the new imperial scheme. Commentary courtesy CNG.

The infants are thought to be T. Aelius Antoninus and T. Aurelius Antoninus, the twin sons of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina Junior born in AD 149. These were the first male offspring of the couple, offering hope for the establishment of the new dynasty, but both died in infancy. This coin design was modeled on the sestertius of the sons of Drusus and Livia Drusilla (Livilla), Tiberius and Germanicus Gemellus, cf. RIC I 42 (Tiberius)

A sailor, hydrographer, astronomer, author, and numismatist, British Admiral William Henry Smyth had a remarkable career. His twenty year service as a sailor took him around the Mediterranean, exposing him to other disciplines which he would devote himself to more fervently after 1824, when his naval career effectively ended. Most notable was his publication in 1844 of Cycle of Celestial Objects, which remained the standard astronomical reference for many years, and which earned him the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society and the presidency of the Society. Heavily involved in learned institutions throughout Europe, Smyth was one of the founders of both the Royal Geographic Society in 1830 and the Royal Numismatic Society in 1836.

Smyth's coin collection was pieced together across the Mediterranean and was remarkable for featuring many of the rarest and most sought after sestertii. Aside from the publication of his own collection, in 1834 he authored his Descriptive catalogue of a cabinet of Roman family coins belonging to his Grace the Duke of Northumbria. (Biographical commentary on Smyth courtesy of CNG.)

Though some have doubted the attribution of this portrait to Annius Verus it clearly depicts a boy of around 4 years, the age Annius would have been in 166 when it was issued.

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Though some have doubted the attribution of this portrait to Annius Verus it clearly depicts a boy of around 4 years, the age Annius would have been in 166 when it was issued.

$350.

Though the bust on the right is traditionally attributed to Annius Verus that seems improbable since Annius died age 7 and the bust on the right seems at least a teenager, possibly even older. Thus it is possibly a depiction of someone else. It would help to know when this coin was issued which I haven't found yet. Thus the identity of the person on the right seems unresolved to me. On the other hand perhaps it's only a stylistic issue since it's a provincial issue far removed from Rome and the legend clearly identifies the two as Caesars.

SOLD.

Eos, known as Aurora to the Romans, was the goddess of the dawn. Here she is seen preparing one of the two horses that drew her biga ("Firebright" and "Daybright") for her morning journey across the skies.

The reverse of this medallion has been completely smoothed and then re-engraved in antiquity with a slightly garbled version of an inscription which should probably read something like MI PERSE BELLI (my Persian war). Roman medallions were quite rare and produced only for limited distribution so likely owned and inscribed by a military officer who served against the Persians perhaps in the war against Ardashir beginning in 230 under Septimius Severus. The use of the Greek lambda in an otherwise Roman inscription suggests the owner was a Roman living in the Greek speaking Eastern areas of the Roman empire perhaps in a Roman Colonia.

Over the later part of Commodus’ reign, numerous events suggest the emperor was becoming mentally ill. A number of sources tell us that Commodus thought of himself as the reincarnation of Hercules. It is said that in public spectacles he would dress in the manner of Hercules and bludgeon prisoners to death with a club.

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Pertinax Junior was the son of the emperor Pertinax and of his wife Titiana. He was still a boy when he was elevated to the rank of Caesar by his father in AD 193. Later, as the son of a deified emperor, he was held in high esteem by Septimius Severus who even placed him in charge of one of the priestly colleges. Pertinax Junior was a close friend of Geta and died probably during the massacre following Geta's murder by his brother Caracalla. The British Museum in London houses a unique billon tetradrachm of the same type, cf. Sear, GIC 2106. Commentary and photo courtesy The New York Sale.

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Pertinax Junior was the son of the emperor Pertinax and of his wife Titiana. He was still a boy when he was elevated to the rank of Caesar by his father in AD 193. Later, as the son of a deified emperor, he was held in high esteem by Septimius Severus who even placed him in charge of one of the priestly colleges. Pertinax Junior was a close friend of Geta and died probably during the massacre following Geta's murder by his brother Caracalla. The British Museum in London houses a unique billon tetradrachm of the same type, cf. Sear, GIC 2106. Commentary courtesy The New York Sale.

Considering Pertinax Junior was the son of the short-reigned emperor Pertinax, it is surprising that his story is carried beyond his fathers murder on March 28, A.D. 193. But it was only at that point that his life story began. Two great strokes of fortune were awarded to Pertinax Jr.; the first was that his father denied the senate's request to bestow upon him the title of Caesar, believing that no title should be awarded until it had been earned. Pertinax Junior's apparent lack of formal involvement in his father's regime probably spared him execution when his father's regime was overthrown by the praetorian guards. The fact that very rare coins were struck for him in Egypt may only reflect imperfect communication between officials in Rome and Alexandria.

His second episode of good luck was the fact that Septimius Severus, who had marched on Rome and caused the overthrow of Pertinax's successor Didius Julianus, lavished the highest honours - including consecration - on Pertinax. Since the new regime held steady for nearly two decades, this made Pertinax Jr. eligible for various privileges and honours, including being placed in charge of the sacerdotal (priestly) college.

But the environment in the imperial palace of the Severans was poisoned by sibling rivalry; the emperor's sons Caracalla and Geta were so hateful of each other that it would have been impossible for anyone to remain on good terms with both brothers. For better or worse, Pertinax Junior became close friends with Geta, which meant he was among the perhaps 20,000 'allies' of Geta (though Dio may be exaggerating) who paid with their lives after Caracalla murdered Geta near the end of 211. Though Caracalla's purge was personal, it was also political. Others who fell were the praetorian prefect Papinian and Pompeianus and Cornuficia, respectively a grandson and a daughter of Marcus Aurelius. Caracalla eliminated all possible rivals who had a record of hostility toward him, and Pertinax Junior could not have been far from the top of the list. Especially by killing those with imperial blood in their veins, he was reducing the risk of the opposition finding a suitable candidate to lead a coup. Commentary and photos courtesy NAC.

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