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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Julia Mamaea, Augusta AR Denarius. AD 222-235.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £85
Rome mint; struck AD 228. IVLIA MAMAEA AVG, diademed and draped bust to right / FELICITAS PVBLICA, Felicitas standing facing, head to left, with legs crossed, holding caduceus with her right hand and leaning on column with left. RIC IV 335 (Alexander); BMCRE 483 and 485 (Alexander); RSC 17. 2.87gr, 21mm, 2h.
Extremely Fine.
Property of a gentleman; acquired in the UK before 2000. -
Gallienus BI Antoninianus. AD 253-268.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £91
Rome mint; struck AD 267-268. 8th officina. GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head to right / APOLLINI CONS AVG, centaur walking to left, holding globe with right hand and rudder with left; H in exergue. RIC V.1 164 (sole reign); MIR 738b; RSC 73. 3.42gr, 20mm, 6h.
Near Extremely Fine.
Property of a North London, UK, gentleman. -
Aureolus, Romano-Gallic Usurper, BI Antoninianus. AD 268-269.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £33
Mediolanum (Milan) mint; struck mid AD 268. 2nd officina. In the name of Postumus. IMP POSTVMVS AVG, radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust of Postumus to right / CONCORD EQVIT, Concordia standing to left, holding patera with right hand and rudder with left; her right foot on prow of galley to left; S in exergue. RIC V.2 (Postumus) 373; RIC V.4 446; AGK (Postumus) 6a. 3.03gr, 20mm, 12h.
Very Fine.
Property of a Cambridgeshire, UK, gentleman.
Aureolus was an extraordinarily capable general who served under Valerian and Gallienus. He revolted against Gallienus in AD 267, who sieged him in the city of Mediolanum (Milan) where these coins were struck.
