Numismatica Ars Classica Zurich

Auction 91  –  23 May 2016

Numismatica Ars Classica Zurich, Auction 91

The George W. La Borde Collection of Roman Aurei

Mo, 23.05.2016, from 11:30 AM CEST
The auction is closed.

Description

The George W. La Borde Collection of Roman Aurei Part I
THE ROMAN EMPIRE
Vespasian, 69 – 79
Aureus July-December 71, AV 7.38 g. IMP CAES VE – SP AVG P M Laureate head r. Rev. NEP – RED Neptune standing l., r. foot on globe, holding acrostolium and sceptre. C 272. BMC 54. RIC 44. CBN 37. Calicó 653.
A bold portrait of fine style perfectly struck in high relief,
virtually as struck and almost Fdc
This example is illustrated on the back cover of David R. Sear, Roman Coins and their Values. Volume I: the Republic and the Twelve Caesars, London 2000.
Provenance
Michael L. J. Winckless Collection sold privately by Spink & Son (London) in October 2006.

For both historians and citizens openly criticised Vespasian – the son of a man who made a fortune as a tax collector in Asia, and later as a Helvetian banker – for his stinginess, but this proved to be an essential quality for an emperor in troubled times. Suetonius (Vesp 16.3) reports that Vespasian claimed he needed 400 million aurei (10 billion denarii) to ”…put the country back on its feet again”. As a result of his close attention to finance, Vespasian struck aurei in large quantities, and unlike most of his predecessors, he employed a wide variety of reverse types. For generations researchers have recognised that many of Vespasian’s reverse types recall types from earlier reigns, most especially those from the age of Augustus. Attempts have been made to connect his ‘Augustan’ types with the centenaries of the Battle of Actium (ending in 70) and the ‘foundation’ of the empire (ending in 74), but all seem to have failed, as the relevant types are strewn throughout Vespasian’s ten-year reign. It is perhaps better to view his recycling of types as a political strategy favored by Vespasian and Titus, but subsequently abandoned by Domitian. In this case we have a depiction of the sea-god Neptune that certainly is derived from Octavian’s pre-Imperial coinage struck in commemoration of Actium.

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Price realized 28'000 CHF
Starting price 12'000 CHF
Estimate 15'000 CHF
The auction is closed.
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