Games for the Primi Decennales

CNG 84, Lot: 1042. Estimate $1500. Sold for $2300. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Antoninus Pius. AD 138-161. Æ Sestertius (30mm, 24.63 g, 12h). Rome mint. Struck AD 147/8. Laureate head right / Antoninus seated left on sella castrensis on raised daïs, extending hand to figure standing right and extending hand to receive it; statue of Liberalitas standing left, holding abacus and cornucopia, on daïs before. RIC III 775; Banti 214. Good VF, dark green and red patina.

From the John Bitner Collection. Ex Michael Weller Collection (Classical Numismatic Group 67, 22 September 2004), lot 1538.

Pius’s fifth liberality was given in honor of his recent vota decennalia, which was also the occasion for celebratory games, the Primi Decennales.