Very Rare Portrait Sestertius of Tiberius

CNG 88, Lot: 1214. Estimate $3000. Sold for $3500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Tiberius. As Caesar, AD 4-14. Æ Sestertius (34mm, 25.03 g, 12h). Lugdunum (Lyon) mint. Struck AD 13-14. TI CAESAR AVGVSTI F IMPERAT VII, laureate head right / ROM ET AVG in exergue, the Great Altar of Lugdunum: altar enclosure; panels decorated with corona civica flanked by figures holding laurel branches; decoration along roof line; altar flanked by columns surmounted by statues of Victory standing vis-à-vis, each holding palm and wreath. RIC I 248a (Augustus) var. (IMPERATOR); Lyon 111 var. (same); BMCRE 580 var. (same); BN 1761 (Augustus) var. (same); A. de Belfort, "Recherches des monnaies impériales romaines non mentionnées dans l ouvrage de H. Cohen," ASFN 1884, p. 46, 43. VF, green and brown patina with traces of brick-red, minor pits in outer areas of fields. Possibly only the second specimen known of this variety.

From the Sierra Collection. Ex Michael Weller Collection (Triton VIII, 11 January 2005), lot 988; Classical Numismatic Group XXVI (11 June 1993), lot 426.