247, Lot: 288. Estimate $300. Sold for $1400. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Antoninus Pius. AD 138-161. Æ Sestertius (32mm, 25.49 g, 11h). Rome mint. Struck AD 159-160. Laureate head right / Pietas standing left, holding globe and child, two children at feet. RIC III 1031; Cohen 621. Good VF, dark brown patina with areas of light smoothing. Excellent portrait.

This reverse type, employed in the last year of the emperor's long and prosperous reign, concentrates attention on the promising youth of the imperial family. Ironically, it was this family of Marcus Aurelius that heralded the end of the era of the 'good emperors'.