Sale: CNG 61, Lot: 1647. Estimate $1000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 25 September 2002.  Sold For $1725. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

AGRIPPINA Junior, wife of Claudius. Died 59 AD. Æ Sestertius (25.58 gm). Struck under Claudius, circa 50-54 AD. Balkan mint(?). Draped bust of Agrippina right / Carpentum drawn left by two mules, the cover supported by standing figures. RIC I 103 (Claudius); BMCRE pg. 195, note *; BN -; von Kaenel, “Britannicus, Agrippina Minor und Nero in Thrakien,” SNR 63 (1984), type A and pl. 24, 27/30 (same obverse die as 27, reverse die of 30); Cohen -. Fine, black patina, some strengthening of the obverse legend from 3:00 to 5:00. Rare, only a handful of published examples! ($1000) 

Sestertii and dupondii in the name of Agrippina Junior have been found localized in the Balkan region, and were most likely struck at a local mint servicing the legions guarding the border. Only seven specimens of the sestertius were known to Von Kaenel, four examples in Berlin (three from the same obverse die, all reverse dies different, and all with Balkan provenances), a fifth in the Sofia Museum, and another in Vienna. Several additional examples have come to light in recent years, including four sold in CNG auction: Triton I, lot 1320; CNG Auctin 46, lot 1167; Triton III, lot 1001, and CNG Auction 55, lot 1149. The lack of reverse legends on both the sestertius and dupondius, specifically the S C, would be in keeping with a provincial issue not issued under the nominal authority of the Roman Senate.