Sale: Nomos 8, Lot: 219. Estimate CHF225.  Closing Date: Monday, 21 October 2013.  Bidding Closed.

Claudius. AD 41-54. Quadrans (Copper, 19mm, 2.35 g 6), Rome, 1- 4 January 42. TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG Modius on three legs. Rev. PON M TR P IMP COS II around S C. Cohen -. BMC -. BN -. RIC 88 = C. H. V. Sutherland, An Unpublished Quadrans of Claudius, NC 1963, pp. 55-56. Rare. With a green and brown patina. About extremely fine.

From a German private collection, bought from Münzen und Medaillen AG in 1970 and described as being from the Niggeler Collection.

Sutherland points out that Claudius entered into his second consulship on 1 January 42 and, shortly thereafter was acclaimed Pater Patriae (on the 4th, or at least no later than the 12th). In fact, quadrantes reading PP COS II are quite common and must have been struck from c. 5/12 January until 31 December 42. Thus, this coin and the others that have appeared on the market can only have been produced during an extremely short period (from 4 to 11 days). The curious fact is that a correct description of this coin was not published until after the Ashmolean bought their specimen in 1962 and Sutherland wrote about it the next year (that coin was ex Münzhandlung Basel 1, 1934, 173 where it was, of course, given the wrong description). In any case this is one of the few Roman coins that can be precisely dated to such a short period of mintage