Sale: Nomos 2, Lot: 201. Estimate CHF5000.  Closing Date: Monday, 17 May 2010.  Sold For CHF7000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Geta. Caesar, AD 198-209. Denarius (Silver, 3.25 g 6), Rome, 206. P SEPTIMIVS GETA CAES Bare-headed and draped bust of Geta to right. Rev. ROMAE AETERNAE Roma seated facing in the center intercolumniation of a hexastyle temple with a statue at the base of each column; in the pediment, Jupiter standing between two reclining figures. BMC p. 247, * = Cohen 176 = Hill 788 = RIC 54 (all citing the specimen in Paris). RCV 7199 (also presumably referring to the Paris piece, but this is not clear). Extremely rare and of great importance. A clear and remarkably well preserved example. Extremely fine.

The reverse of this coin shows the Temple of Roma and is remarkable for the great detail the die cutter has managed to show on such a small flan. It is also one of he rarest of all Severan denarii, of which only the specimen in Paris seems to have been known previously (all references to the type in literature go back to that piece). The same reverse also appears on an apparently unique aureus of Caracalla (BMC p. 210, ‡ = Calicó 2810 = Hill 780 = RIC 143A, all referring to a piece that appeared in the NCirc of 1925).