Sale: Triton VI, Lot: 810. Estimate $500.  Closing Date: Monday, 13 January 2003.  Sold For $410. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

AGRIPPA. Died 12 BC. Æ As (11.12 gm). Struck under Caligula, 37-41 AD. M AGRIPPA L F COS III, head left, wearing rostral crown / S C across field, Neptune standing left, naked but for cloak draped over arms, holding small dolphin and trident. RIC 58 (Gaius); BMCRE 161 (Tiberius); BN 77; Cohen 3. Good VF, dark brown patina, fields lightly smoothed. ($500)

Marcus Agrippa was Augustus' chosen heir, adopted by the emperor in17 BC to insure a smooth succession. He had been a loyal friend of Augustus since the dark days following Caesar's assassination, and as naval commander was responsible for the destruction of the fleets of Sextus Pompey and Mark Antony (hence the nautical motifs on his memorial coins). Agrippa's first hint of future elevation came in 23 BC, when Augustus entrusted his signet ring to him during a serious illness. His prominence in political affairs was emphasised in 13 BC, when two of the three moneyers included Agrippa on their coin types. Succession was not to be though, as Agrippa died the following year, to the great dismay of his patron.