Triton XVII, Lot: 718. Estimate $5000. Sold for $7500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Marcus Aurelius. AD 161-180. AV Aureus (19mm, 6.79 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 162-163. IMP M ANTONINVS AVG, bareheaded, draped, and cuirassed bust right / SALVTI AVGVSTOR TR P XVII, COS III in exergue, Salus standing left, feeding from patera held in right hand a snaked coiled around altar, cradling scepter in left arm. RIC III 77; MIR 18, 54-2/17; Calicó 1915; BMCRE 226-7. Near EF, lustrous.

According to a passage in the eighth chapter of Capitolinus’ Life of Marcus Aurelius, the reverse of this type refers to the ill health of Lucius Verus while on an expedition against the Parthians near Canusium, and to the vows pledged by Aurelius for his eventual recovery.