Sale: Triton XII, Lot: 553. Estimate $7500.  Closing Date: Monday, 5 January 2009.  Sold For $5500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Claudius. AD 41-54. Æ Sestertius (29.13 g, 6h). Rome mint. TI CLAVDIVS • CAESAR • AVG P M TR P • IMP • P • P •, laureate head right / NERO CLAVDIVS DRVSVS GERMAN IMP, S C across field, Arch of Nero Claudius Drusus: triumphal arch consisting of single arch and decorated piers set on raised base with four columns supporting ornate attic; attic contains central pediment decorated with simpulum and litui on either side; clippeus and ewer in flanking panels; arch surmounted by equestrian statue of Nero Claudius Drusus rearing right, spearing downward, and trophies consisting of Gallic helmets and shields flanking. RIC I 114; von Kaenel type 71; BMCRE 188; BN 213; Cohen 48. Near EF, dark green patina. Fine style.

The Arch of Nero Claudius Drusus was erected by order of the Senate sometime after the death of Drusus in 9 BC. Located on the Via Appia, it commemorated his victories along the German frontier. Eventually, the presence of the arch may have lent its name to the surrounding region, known colloquially known as the vicus Drusianus (Drusus' district). By the late fourth century AD, the arch may have survived as the arch then known as the arcus Recordationis (Arch of Remembrance).