Fleet Coinage - Unlisted Reverse Die

Sale: CNG 76, Lot: 1047. Estimate $300.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 12 September 2007.  Sold For $2600. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ACHAEA, Uncertain mint. Mark Antony. 38-37 BC. Æ Quadrans (3.71 g, 8h). Fleet issue. L. Sempronius Atratinus, augur and consul designatus. Janiform head, probably featuring Antony and Octavian / Lituus; three pellets in inverted triangular pattern to right. RPC I 1458/1 corr. (stem of prow; this coin); Amandry, Monnayage Type II, Series 1F (D1/R- [unlisted rev. die]). VF, green patina. Extremely rare.

From the J.S. Wagner Collection.

L. Sempronius Atratinus came from an ancient patrician family which, by his day had fallen on hard times. Always seeking to bolster their support among the senatorial aristocracy, the members of the Second Triumvirate would have sought out such individuals who were capable, but impoverished. Appointed augur in 40 BC, he was apparently a partisan of Antony, who appointed him pro-praetorian legate in Greece between 39 and 37 BC, and pro-praetorian praefectus classis under Calpurnius Bibulus in 36 BC. His acclamatio as consul designatus was deferred until 34 BC, when he was appointed suffect consul. Though pardoned by Augustus, he never rose any higher, but continued to serve in a religious capacity as augur until his death in AD 7.