402, Lot: 534. Estimate $1000. Sold for $1900. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Didius Julianus. AD 193. AR Denarius (18mm, 2.78 g, 7h). Rome mint. Laureate head right / Concordia standing left, holding aquila and signum. RIC IV 1; RSC 2. Good VF, toned, slightly soft strike on reverse.

From the BRN Collection, purchased from Flavian Logic Ancient Numismatics (John Haer), 13 November 2003.

This reverse type reflects the appeal of Didius to the armies within the provinces to follow the lead of the Praetorians in collectively supporting him as emperor. The appearance of this type so early in an emperor's coinage was rather unconventional in the 2nd century, reflective of the urgency of the message, but it was one that would become common among the early issues of the third century military emperors, whose immediate power was directly relative to the support of the legions. For Didius, it was an appeal that was futile, as the provincial armies had already proclaimed for alternates.