CNG 94, Lot: 895. Estimate $200. Sold for $900. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

LYDIA, Sardis. Claudia Octavia. Augusta, AD 54-62. Æ (18mm, 6.11 g, 12h). Mindios, strategos for the second time.ΘEAN OKTAOYIAN, draped bust right, wearing wreath of grain ears / Veiled female standing right, holding scepter. RPC 3001; LS 7 = SNG München 513. VF, dark green, almost black, patina. Very rare.

Beloved by the populace but hated by her husband, Claudia Octavia’s marriage to her stepbrother Nero was an unhappy one. When an affair with his mistress Poppaea Sabina resulted in pregnancy, Nero divorced Octavia and had her banished to the island of Pandateria on a false (and ironic) charge of adultery. The Roman population demanded for her return, but she was soon after executed on the order of Poppaea.