Exceptional

Sale: Triton XI, Lot: 872. Estimate $5000.  Closing Date: Monday, 7 January 2008.  Sold For $6750. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Augustus. 27 BC-AD 14. AR Denarius (3.78 g, 1h). Pergamum mint. Struck 27 BC. CAESAR, bare head of Augustus right / AVGVSTVS, bull standing right. RIC I 475; RSC 28; BMCRR East 284-285 = BMCRE 662-663; BN 941. Superb EF, handsome toning. Very rare without the usual flan crack. Outstanding strike on both sides. Exceptional.

The engravers of the Ionian region have long been reknowned for producing some of the most beautifully crafted coinages. The Roman coinage of Pergamum, consisting of both cistophori and denarii, was no exception. While the cistophori continued to be struck for some time, denarius production ceased during the reign of Augustus. His Pergamum denarii are arguably his finest, and they were also among the first to be struck bearing his new name, Augustus.