This unusual
type of c. 113 AD, showing the
standard personification of
Virtus facing the
standard personification of
Felicitas, was originally published from an
aureus in the
French Royal
collection, which was however unfortunately stolen and melted down in the deplorable theft of most of the ancient gold from the
French collection in 1831. No second specimen of the
aureus has yet turned up!
Cohen 653 (200 francs) knew the
type only from that stolen
Paris aureus.
Strack 438, published in 1931, however, found two specimens of the corresponding
sestertius, in
Vienna and
Munich, both from the same die pair, showing Trajan's
bust with
aegis on shoulder, both unfortunately so worn that the
reverse legend could not be read, though the reported
aureus made the restoration [
VIRTVTI ET FELICITATI] S C certain.
In recent years additional specimens of the
sestertius, with legible
reverse legends, have been turning up!
Woytek, in
his excellent monograph of 2010 on Trajan's coinage, no. 471, found four such specimens to report:
Two specimens with the
bust type with
aegis, one of which, from a
Gorny & Mosch sale and illustrated by
Woytek, is from the same dies as the
Vienna and
Munich specimens. The second maybe from the same dies too, but I can't check it: quoted by
Woytek from a private
collection (
Jones), illustrated on Matt Sersch's website on the coinage of
Trajan, which is apparently no longer on line.
Two further specimens, from
CNG sales of the 1990s, from a different
reverse die, and with Trajan's
bust draped and
cuirassed on the
obverse, both illustrated by
Woytek.
Recently I have acquired specimens of both varieties of this
sestertius, one of them very nice.
First, from
CNG E319, 29 Jan. 2014, lot 410, a worn specimen of the draped and
cuirassed variety, from the same dies as the two earlier
CNG specimens reported and illustrated by
Woytek. In CNG's picture of my coin, reproduced below, it seemed that the
reverse legend might be illegible, but I was pleased to find that on the coin itself the
legend, though weak, can be faintly made out.
The second specimen, easily the finest known, shows the
bust with
aegis variety, from the same die pair as
Vienna,
Munich, and the earlier
Gorny & Mosch coin. Source
Gorny & Mosch 219, 10 March 2014, lot 398; their photo below.
