Very Rare Denomination

CNG 91, Lot: 951. Estimate $1000. Sold for $1800. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Salonina. Augusta, AD 254-268. Æ Dupondius (21mm, 12.66 g, 12h). Rome mint. 1st-4th emission, AD 253-257. CORNELIA SALONINA A[VG], draped bust right, wearing stephane and set on crescent / [IV]NO REGINA, Juno standing left, holding patera and scepter; S C across field. RIC V 49 var. (obv. legend); cf. MIR 36, 228d and f (sestertius and as). VF, green-brown surfaces, minor roughness. Very rare denomination, and an apparently unpublished for this type. None in CoinArchives, and the first we have handled.

By virtue of the obverse legend, this coin belongs to MIR type 228. The presence of the crescent on the obverse suggests it is a “double”, and because it weighs lighter than the published sestertii, it must the double of the as – the dupondius for this issue (ostensibly MIR 228e).