LOT 2862
Domitian AE As. AD 81-96.
Rome mint; struck AD 87. [IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM COS XIII] CENS PER P P, laureate head to right / [VIRTVTI] AVGVSTI, Virtus standing to right, foot on helmet, holding spear and parazonium; S C across fields. RIC II.1 550; BMCRE 404. Fine. Edges having been tapped to create raised rims.(10.04gr, 28mm, 6h.).
ProvenanceProperty of a Cambridgeshire, UK, gentleman.
FootnotesProto-contorniate is the modern term used to describe Roman Imperial and Provincial bronze coins of the first, second, and early third centuries with hammered-up edges. These raised edges on the rims probably occurred after these bronze issues no longer circulated and ceased to be part of the currency in general use. A common assumption is that proto-contorniates functioned as game counters since the rim created through hammering could protect the designs. Andreas Alföldi in Die Kontorniaten (Budapest, 1943) believed proto-contorniates to be forerunners of the contorniates of the fourth and fifth centuries. He argued that proto-contorniates were New Year's gifts and that the older coins were actually hammered in the fourth century before the contorniates proper came into being.
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Claudius II Gothicus BI Antoninianus. AD 268-270.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £26
Mediolanum mint; struck AD 268-269. 1st officina. IMP CLAVDIVS P F AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust to right / SPES PVBLICA, Spes walking to left, holding flower with right and raising robe with her left hand; P in exergue. RIC V.1, 168; MER-RIC 26 (temporary). 3.66gr, 21mm, 12h.
Extremely Fine.
From a London, UK, collection, 1990s. -
Gallienus BI Antoninianus. AD 253-268.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £442
Rome mint; struck AD 263-265. 6th officina. GALLIENVS AVG, radiate and cuirassed bust to right / FORTVNA REDVX, Fortuna seated to left, holding rudder with right hand and cornucopia with left, wheel beneath seat; ς in exergue. RIC V.1, 194a (sole reign); MIR 546g; RSC 279a. 3.76 gr, 20 mm, 11h.
Extremely Fine.
From a London, UK, collection, 1990s. -
Crispus, as Caesar BI Nummus. AD 316-326.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £20
Aquileia mint; struck AD 321. 2nd officina. CRISPVS NOB CAES, laureate and cuirassed bust to right / CAESARVM NOSTRORVM around wreath containing VOT • V in three lines; •AQS• in exergue. RIC VII 87. 3.24gr, 19mm, 6h.
Extremely Fine. Much original silvering remaining.
From a private, UK, collection.
