298, Lot: 296. Estimate $300. Sold for $525. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Caracalla. AD 198-217. Æ As (26mm, 10.78 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 215. Laureate and cuirassed bust right / Aesculapius standing left, leaning on serpent-entwined staff; globe on ground to right. RIC IV 553c. Good VF, green patina with some minor black deposits, surfaces slightly rough.

Ex Robert O. Ebert Collection.

Caracalla’s health declined precipitously in the final years of his reign. On his way to the Parthian War in AD 214 he visited the great shrine of Aesculapius at Pergamum in the hopes of finding a cure, an occasion marked by the striking of coins depicting the god at Rome and a remarkable series of medallic bronzes at Pergamum.