Maison Palombo Geneve

Auction 17  –  20 October 2018

Maison Palombo Geneve, Auction 17

Ancient and World Coins and Medals

Sa, 20.10.2018, from 10:30 AM CEST
The auction is closed.

Description

Antonia Aureus - Rome (41-45) Très rare et d’une qualité remarquable. Exemplaire de la collection Sir H. D. Weber vente Sotheby des 29 et 30 juin 1893, N°277 et de la collection F. W. McClean vente Sotheby du 13 au 19 juin 1906, N°17 et de la collection F. R. Jameson et de la collection G. Mazzini et de la collection A. D. Moretti vente NFA XXII du 1 juin 1989, N°34 et de la collection « a Connoisseur of Portraiture » vente NAC 38 du 21 mars 2007, N°14 Exemplaire illustrant le von Kaenel. 7.85g - Cal. 319a - von Kaenel 350 (cet exemplaire) Superbe à FDC - CHOICE AU After Livia, wife of Augustus, Antonia the Younger (second daughter of Octavia and Marc Antony) was the first lady of the Impe- rial family to be named Augusta. Caligula had requested it during her lifetime (Suetonius Gaius 15), but she apparently declined the honour (despite a contradictory inscription found in Corinth). Caligula probably had her killed (or arranged her suicide), and she only became Augusta after her death, during the reign of her son (Suetonius Claudius 11). The portraits of these coins depict Augusta as Ceres / Demeter, mother-goddess of the harvest, wearing a crown of grain ears. The reverse legend, sacerdis divi avgvsti, presents Claudius’s mother as “Priestess of the Divine August” (Augustus was her uncle), and the coin shows two lit torches linked by a ribbon (or a garland?). The fact that there are two torches could reflect the duality of the two Augustae, and they probably refer to the cult of Augustus. Claudius particularly liked rituals and cults, even trying to relocate the Eleusinian Mysteries from Attica to Rome (Suetonius Claudius 25). The coin also evokes the nocturnal rites of Ceres, whose visits to the underworld were illuminated by torches, as her cult was popular in Rome, and involved annual celebrations (the Cerealia) and games (the Ludi Cereales) which were obviously a good occasion for the emperor to be liked by his subjects.

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Bidding

Price realized 50'000 CHF
Starting price 30'000 CHF
Estimate 40'000 CHF
The auction is closed.
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