Sale: CNG 76, Lot: 1334. Estimate $300.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 12 September 2007.  Sold For $600. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Augustus. 27 BC-AD 14. AR Denarius (3.90 g, 12h). Rome mint. P. Petronius Turpilianus, moneyer. Struck 19 BC. Bare head of Augustus right / Tarpeia standing facing, hands raised, buried to the waist in a pile of shields. RIC I 299; RSC 494. VF, toned.

From the J.S. Wagner Collection.

In a subplot of the myth of the rape of the Sabine women, Tarpeia was a Vestal Virgin who betrayed the city of Rome to the Sabines when they were attempting to rescue their wives and daughters. She stipulated that the price for her betrayal was to be what the Sabine soldiers wore on their arms, meaning their gold bracelets. The Sabines were offended by Tarpeia's greed and treason and took her price literally, crushing her under the weight of their shields.