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Nero SestertiusObv. NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GER P M TR P IMP P P, laureate bust of Nero right, aegis on left shoulder.
Rev. AVGVSTI SPQR OST C, overhead view of port of Ostia with seven cargo ships, ringed by circular row of docks and crescent-shaped piers and porticos; pharos bearing statue of Neptune above, reclining statue of Tiber holding rudder in right hand and dolphin in left below.
Mint: Rome 64 AD.
32mm 24.11g
RIC 178, BMCRE 131, Cohen 37.
The port of Ostia was strategically located at the mouth of the Tiber river and quickly became a primary port for Rome. This coin commemorates the completion of the multi-year building project though the exact date of completion is unknown to history. kcMar 23, 2023
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Vespasian SestertiusObv. IMP CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M TR P P P COS III, laureate and draped bust left.
Rev. SPQR ADSERTORI LIBERTATIS PVBLICAE within wreath.
Mint: Rome, 71 AD.
33mm 25.47g
C 522, BMC –, RIC 210, CBN 548.
This sestertius of early 71, which celebrates the senate and the people as ‘maintainers’ of the public liberty, belongs to the first large-scale Flavian issue of Imperial bronzes. The type is carried over from the issue of late 70, which was quite limited, with sestertii and asses being produced with only one obverse die each, and many of the reverse dies being used to produce the successor coinages.
The celebration of liberty is not a surprising theme for an emperor delivering a nation from a devastating civil war, and two other sestertii bearing libertas types (LIBERTAS PVBLICA and LIBERTAS RESTITVTA) were also part of this series. Kent suggests these three types were the first theme explored by Vespasian in 71, followed by three subsequent issues honoring Titus and Domitian, the victory in Judaea, and peace.
The inscription on this coin is remarkable because it names the senate and the people – not the emperor – as the source of this newfound liberty. The exclusion of the S.C. from the reverse is unusual, but is understandable since the S.P.Q.R. at the head of the inscription serves as a substitute (written by NAC).kcMar 23, 2023
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Maximinus Thrax SestertiusObv. IMP MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG, laureate and draped bust right-
Rev. FIDES MILITVM S C, Fides standing left, holding signum in each hand.
Mint: Rome, 236-237 AD.
29mm 20.24g
RIC IV 78, BMCRE 139, Banti 4.kcMar 23, 2023
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Julia Maesa SestertiusObv. IVLIA MAESA AVG, draped bust right.
Rev. SAECVLI FELICITAS S C, Felicitas standing left, holding caduceus and sacrificing with patera over lighted altar to left; star to left.
Mint: Rome, 218-222 AD.
28/30mm 21.90g
BMC 396, Cohen 48, RIC 423.kcMar 23, 2023
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Antoninus Pius SestertiusObv. ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P COS III, laureate head right.
Rev. S C, Spes advancing left, holding flower and lifting skirt.
Mint: Rome, 141-144 AD.
31mm 23.93g
RIC 626kcMar 23, 2023
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Otacilia Severa SestertiusObv. MARCIA OTACIL SEVERA AVG, diademed and draped bust of Otacilla, right.
Rev. SAECVLARES AVGG S C, Hippopotamus advancing right.
Mint: Rome, 244-249 AD.
27mm 16.34g
RIC 200a, C. 65. kcMar 22, 2023
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Trajan SestertiusObv. IMP CAES NERVA TRAIAN AVG GERM P M, laureate head right.
Rev. TR POT COS II S C, Concordia seated left carrying patera on altar and cornucopia.
Mint: Rome, 99 AD.
34mm 25.34g
RIC II 399, BMCRE 717, Woytek 51a.kcMar 22, 2023
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Caracalla AsObv. ANTONINVS PIVS AVG GERM, laureate head right.
Rev. P M TR P XVIII COS IIII P P S C, Aesculapius standing facing, head left, leaning on serpent-entwined staff; globe at feet to right.
Mint: Rome, 215 AD.
27mm 14.12g
C 304; BMCRE 293 note; RIC 553a.kcMar 22, 2023
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Titus SestertiusObv. IMP T CAES DIVI VESP F AVG P M TR P P P COS VIII, laureate head right.
Rev. IVD CAP S C, Judaea, veiled and in attitude of mourning, seated to left under a palm tree, propping her head on her right hand; on the right, male captive standing right, head to left, his hands bound behind his back; to right, helmet and shield.
Mint: East (Thracia or Bithynia, 80-81 AD.
34 mm 25,21 g
RIC 500, RPC 503.kcMar 22, 2023
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Roman Empire, Drusus, Son of Tiberius, Twin Sestertius Tiberius and Germanicus Gemellus Sestertius
Obv. Busts of two children on cornucopiae (Tiberius und Germanicus), between winged caduceus.
Rev. DRVSVS CAESAR TI AVG F DIVI AVG N PONT TR POT II, big S C in the center.
Mint: Rome, struck under Tiberius for Drusus, 22-23 AD.
33mm 27.23g
BMC 95; Coh. 1 (Drusus); RIC² 42.
Ex Salton Collection
Ex Auction M. Etienne Bourgey, Paris 1923, No. 69.
Ex Auction Ars Classica 12, Luzern 1926, No. 2747.kcMar 21, 2023
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Gordianus Pius SestertiusObv. IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG, Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
Rev. FORTVNA REDVX S C, Fortuna seated left with rudder and cornucopia.
Mint: Rome, 238-244 AD.
31mm 24.47g
RIC 331a.
kcAug 29, 2022
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Roman Empire, Caracalla Bimetallic SestertiusObv. M AVR ANTONINVS PIVS FELIX AVG, laureate and cuirassed bust right.
Rev. P M TR P XVII IMP III COS IIII P P, emperor, accompanied by two officiers, standing r. on platform, haranguing soldiers behind, standards, in ex. S C.
Mint: Rome, 214 A.D.
32mm 32.71g
RIC 525c var. (draped bust); Banti 59
Before a battle, or on parade, the emperor would address his troops in an event known as an adlocutio cohortium (address to the cohorts). This was an important opportunity for the emperor to be present among his troops and inspire morale and esprit de corps among them. A sestertius of Gaius (Caligula), issued on behalf of a donative for the Praetorian Guard, was the first to employ the adlocutio as a reverse type. Similar subsequent issues were minted to emphasize the emperor's perceived, if not actual, role as military commander. The present specimen commemorates Caracalla's victory against the Germans and his preparations for a Persian war. Caracalla idolized Alexander the Great and, as other emperors before him, wished to recreate his successes in the east. Thus, in 214 AD, after having been proclaimed "Alexander" at Philippopolis in Thrace, he assembled his troops, who had been outfitted as Macedonians, and proceeded into Asia Minor. Caracalla's ambitions were, however, hampered by his own unfit physical and mental state; over the next three years the campaign degeneratged into near-chaos and ended with Caracalla's murder.
(written by CNG, 2003)kcMay 12, 2017
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