REX ARMENIIS DATVS

400, Lot: 645. Estimate $200. Sold for $450. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Antoninus Pius. AD 138-161. Æ Sestertius (30mm, 25.97 g, 12h). Rome mint. Struck circa AD 141-143. Laureate head right / REX ARMENIIS DATVS, Antoninus Pius standing left, crowning Sohemo to left. RIC III 619; Banti 322. Near VF, brown surfaces.

From the collection of a Texas Wine Doctor, purchased from Bob Golan.

With Armenia continuing to act as a buffer for Rome from the Parthian empire, the installation of a new client-king was an important event celebrated on the reverse of this type. As it occurred during the third consulship of Antoninus Pius (AD 140-144), the new Armenian king represented here must be Sohemo (first reign, circa AD 140/44-161).