336, Lot: 275. Estimate $100. Sold for $110. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Antoninus Pius. AD 138-161. Æ Sestertius (31mm, 24.17 g, 12h). Rome mint. Struck AD 143. Laureate head right / REX Q[VADIS DAT]VS, S C in exergue, Pius standing left, presenting a diadem to the king of the Quadi standing right. RIC III 620; Banti 323. Fair, green and reddish-brown patina that is chipped around the edge. Rare.

The Quadi were a Germanic tribe situated along the Danube. Not a great deal is known of them, and the identity of the king pictured on this coin is uncertain. They were a formidable enemy of Marcus Aurelius during the Marcomannic Wars, and it was against the tribe that the Romans triumphed thanks to the famous “miracle of the rain” depicted on the column of Marcus.