CNG 97, Lot: 745. Estimate $300. Sold for $550. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Majorian. AD 457-461. Æ Nummus (15mm, 1.57 g, 12h). Uncertain (Mediolanum [Milan] or Ravenna) mint. Pearl-diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Victory standing left, holding wreath and palm frond; [RV or MD]. RIC X 2616 (Ravenna) or 2641 (Milan); LRBC 583 (Milan) or 586 (Ravenna) . VF, earthen brown patina, some roughness. Although difficult to read, the obverse legend is largely complete and sufficiently clear to tell that it is Mj11 (RIC).

Majorian came from an illustrious Italian family and was considered a possible successor to the throne after the death of Valentinian III in 455. With the deposition of Avitus in October 456, Majorian and Ricimer were the de facto rulers of the West, and Majorian was proclaimed emperor by the army on 1 April 457. Just as Avitus had not been accepted in Italy, Majorian was not accepted in Gaul, and he successfully led military campaigns in 458-459 to quell any threat of revolt from that quarter. He did not have such luck in Spain, however, as in 460-461 his two naval expeditions against Gaiseric met with disaster. In the meantime, he also had aroused the suspicions of Ricimer, and after Majorian's return to Rome on 2 August 461 he was seized and beheaded five days later.