CNG 97, Lot: 596. Estimate $200. Sold for $600. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

C. Vibius C.f. Pansa. 90 BC. AR Denarius (18mm, 4.00 g, 6h). Rome mint. Laureate head of Apollo right; flower below chin / Ceres advancing right, holding torch in each hand; to lower right, pig advancing right; all within border of dots. Crawford 342/3b; Sydenham 683; Vibia 6. Good VF, toned, some iridescence, traces of deposits.

From the RBW Collection, purchased from Leu, July 1982.

This intriguing reverse type shows Ceres holding torches, searching for her daughter Proserpina in the darkness of the underworld, following Pluto’s abduction of Proserpina. The appearance of Ceres on this reverse is probably connected to a distribution of grain to the Roman people and to the Ludi Cereales games, which were part of the festival of the Cerealia, held each year in Rome to honor Ceres.