Vitellius and His Father

CNG 85, Lot: 861. Estimate $10000. Sold for $9500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Vitellius, with Vitellius the Elder. AD 69. AV Aureus (18mm, 7.16 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck April-December AD 69. A VITELLIVS GERM IMP AVG TR P, laureate head right / L VITELLIVS COS III CENSOR, Vitellius the Elder seated left on curule chair, feet on stool, holding branch and eagle-tipped scepter. RIC I 96; Calicó 565. VF, a few trivial contact marks, traces of deposits. A pleasing example.

On this coin, Aulus Vitellius honors his far more capable father, Lucius Vitellius. Among the accomplishments of the senior Vitellius were his marriage to the daughter of Octavia, the removal of Pontius Pilate as governor of Judaea, and a consulship he shared with the emperor Claudius in AD 43. Claudius left Lucius Vitellius in charge of Rome when he left to conquer the British.