Rare Remissa Quadragesima Sestertius

Sale: Triton XII, Lot: 565. Estimate $1000.  Closing Date: Monday, 5 January 2009.  Sold For $1400. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Galba. AD 68-69. Æ Sestertius (25.87 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck circa November AD 68. SER • GALBA • IMP • CA-ES AVG TR P, laureate head right / ROMA R XL, S C across field, Roma, helmeted and in military dress, standing left, holding statue of Fortuna on globe in right hand and transverse aquila in left, resting left arm on top of trophy and left foot on helmet; at feet to left, a shield. RIC I 451 corr. (Victory on globe); ACG 7a (A15/P22); BMCRE 84; BN 229; Cohen 193. VF, green patina, traces of red, areas of roughness and smoothing. Rare with R XL on reverse.

From the White Mountain Collection.

The legend R XL stands for remissa quadragesima, celebrating Galba’s repeal of the 2 1/2 percent tax on goods entering Gaul in appreciation of the help which Gaul and Spain had lent him. According to Suetonius (Suetonius Vespasian., 16), that very tax was reimposed by Vespasian shortly thereafter. The statue which Roma holds has been variously described by the major references: RIC calls it Victory, which it cannot be, since the statue has no wings and is holding no wreath; ACG and BN identify the statue as Pax, but Pax is not usually portrayed standing on a globe and typically holds an olive branch and scepter; BMCRE and Cohen identify the statue as Fortuna, which makes the most sense, since Fortuna commonly holds a cornucopia and is depicted in the presence of a globe.