Triton XXI, Lot: 7. Estimate $300. Sold for $750. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

EGYPT, Alexandria. Claudius, with Messalina. AD 41-54. BI Tetradrachm (25mm, 12.82 g, 12h). Dated RY 3 (AD 42/43). TI KΛAY∆I KAIΣ ΣEBA ΓEPMANI AYTOKP, laureate head of Claudius right; L Γ (date) to right / ΜΕΣΣΑΛΙ ΝΑ ΚΑΙΣ ΣΕΒΑΣ, Messalina standing facing, head left, holding two small figures and grain ears, and leaning upon column to right. Köln 75; Dattari 123; K&G 12.22; RPC I 5131; Emmett 74.3; Staffieri, Alexandria In Nummis 10 (this coin). Good VF, toned. Well centered and struck for issue.

From the Giovanni Maria Staffieri Collection. Ex Künker 124 (16 March 2007), lot 8116.

The reverse type depicts Valeria Messalina, Claudius’ third wife, in the guise of Demeter. The two small figures in her right hand are identified as Britannicus and Claudia Octavia, her two children by Claudius.