Sale: Triton V, Lot: 1836. Estimate $2500.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 16 January 2002.  Sold For $2600. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

L. Aemilius Buca. January 44 BC. AR Denarius (3.74 gm). L BVCA, diademed head of Venus right / "Sulla's Dream" -- Victory and Luna appearing before a reclining Sulla. Crawford 480/1; Alföldi pl. V, 51 (same dies); Sear, CRI 164; Sydenham 1064; BMCRR 4160; Aemilia 12. VF. Very rare. ($2500)

The reverse of this rare type is generally accepted as a reference to the famous dream which Sulla, an ancestor of the moneyer, experienced in 88 BC while he led his army on Rome to attack Marius. It is interesting to note that of the four moneyers striking in 44 BC, it was only L. Aemilius Buca who dared strike but personal types; all of the other moneyers specifically referenced the dictatorial regime on at least some of their coinage, and one, C. Cossutius Maridianus, struck only denarii with Caesar’s name and portrait.