The George W. La Borde Collection of Roman Aurei Part I
THE ROMAN EMPIRE
Julia Domna, wife of Septimius Severus
Aureus 211-217, AV 7.28 g. IVLIVA PIA – FELIX AVG Draped bust r. Rev. FECVNDITAS Fecunditas standing facing, head l., holding infant in her l. arm with two further children at her feet. C –. BMC –. RIC Septimius Sevurus –, cf. 374 (denarius). Sear 7088 (this coin). Biaggi 1162 (this coin). Calicó 2613 (this coin).
Apparently unique. A magnificent portrait well-struck in high relief and a
fascinating reverse type. Virtually as struck and almost Fdc
Provenance
Probably found in 1901 in Karnak (Egypt). Sold by Adolph Hess A.G. & Bank Leu, Hermann Rosenberg expert, auction 15, Lucerne, 7 April 1960, lot 358, estimated CHF 2’500 to 3’000, for CHF 4’300.
Leo Biaggi de Blasys, (1906-1979) Collection, purchased from Mario Ratto for CHF 4’200.
Sold by Numismatik Lanz, auction 50, Munich, 27 November 1989, lot 696.
Claude Vaudecrane (1915-2002) Collection sold by Leu Numismatik, auction 93 (”A Perfectionist”), Zurich, 10 May 2005, lot 63.
Inventory of Classical Numismatic Group (Lancaster PA), sold in August 2006.

The coins of Julia Domna struck after the death of her husband, the emperor Septimius Severus, often celebrate her role as mother of her sons, the joint emperors Caracalla and Geta, as exemplified by the reverse of this unique coin. Interestingly, this coin likely originated in the great Karnak Hoard of 1901. The Karnak Hoard was a magnificent find of 1200 aurei from the reigns of Hadrian through Elagabalus that brought a number of new types and incredible rarities to market, many like the present coin in superb condition. While many of the coins from the hoard were sold to the great collectors of the day such as Evans, O’Hagan, Du Chastel, and Weber, others ended up in museum collections, and some were even kept in reserve by dealers to be slowly dispersed over the coming decades. In the early 1960s, a large group that had apparently been kept intact suddenly appeared on the market, principally handled by the partnership of the numismatic firms of Adolph Hess and Bank Leu, and many of those coins still circulate in commerce today.