MEDALS, TOKENS & PLAQUETTES RELATING TO ANTIQUITY

364, Lot: 310. Estimate $300. Sold for $190. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

BOHEMIA. The Death of Marcus Curtius. AR Medal (24mm, 4.08 g, 12h). By Concz Welcz, 1535. Draped bust of Curtius left / Curtius on horseback left, about to leap into chasm in the Roman Forum. Katz 216. Good VF, toned, chased, two scratches on forehead. Cast. Rare.

From the RBW Collection. Ex Lanz 33 (30 April 1985), lot 239; Schweizerischer Bankverein 35 (13 September 1994), lot 1205.

According to myth, an earthquake of 362 BC left a large pit in the Roman Forum. Hoping to appease the gods in light of this disaster, the Romans consulted an oracle and were informed that they needed to sacrifice Rome’s greatest treasure. The soldier Marcus Curtius, realizing that courage was the Roman people’s greatest virtue, rode his horse into the opening, which thereafter closed.