CNG 96, Lot: 730. Estimate $750. Sold for $900. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

The Triumvirs. Mark Antony, Octavian, and Octavia. Late summer-autumn 38 BC. Æ Tressis (30mm, 16.97 g, 3h). Naval base in Greece (at Piraeus?); M. Oppius Capito, propraetor and praefectus classicus. Conjoined bare heads of Mark Antony and Octavian right, facing draped bust of Octavia left / Three galleys under sail to right. RPC I 1463; Amandry, Bronze p. 102, B; CRI 286; Sydenham 1266. Fine, brown–green patina. Extremely rare.

M. Oppius Capito was probably Antony’s senior naval officer, stationed at the main naval base at Piraeus. His coins are found distributed around central Greece, and were most likely struck at Piraeus. Found in two series, a heavy and a light, it has been suggested that some were struck at Tarentum where part of Antony’s fleet was based during the joint action against Sextus Pompey in 37-36 BC. However, both series are found exclusively in the east, and it appears that Oppius Capito may not have accompanied the fleet to Sicily, but retained overall command in the east while his associate Atratinus took charge of the western fleet.