50, Lot: 70. Estimate $400. Sold for $805. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

VITELLIUS. 69 AD. Æ Sestertius (22.02 gm). A VITELLIVS GERMA-N IMP AVG P M P P, laureate and draped bust right / MARS VICTOR, Mars advancing left, holding Victory in outstretched right hand, and aquila in left hand. RIC I 137 var. (obv. legend); BMCRE 53 note var. (same); BN 105 (same obverse die); Cohen 56 var. (same). Fine, red-green to brown patina, light porosity, tooled (see below). ($400)

The specimen in the Bibliothèque Nationale, with the same obverse die as our specimen, confirms that the obverse legend should end in "TR" which was an engraver's error on the die used. Our specimen has apparently been tooled to make the 'TR' appear as 'P P', probably due to the coin being found with heavy encrustation.