Ex Knobloch Collection

418, Lot: 441. Estimate $500. Sold for $1200. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Otho. AD 69. AR Fourrée Denarius (19.5mm, 3.23 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck 15 January–8 March. IMP OTHO CΛESΛR ΛVG TR P, bare head right / SECV RI TΛS P R, Securitas, draped, standing left, holding wreath in right hand and vertical scepter in left. RIC I 10; RSC 15; BMCRE 19; BN 11-13. Near EF, toned, a few metal flaws under tone, a few small scratches.

Ex Dr. Allan Smith Collection (Triton XXI, 9 January 2018), lot 728; Estate of Dr. Robert B. Beckett, Jr. (Classical Numismatic Group 105, 10 May 2017), lot 839; Superior Galleries (3 December 1999), lot 1732; Frederick S. Knobloch Collection (Stack’s, 1 May 1980), lot 277.

This is a “subtle” fourrée, which was only recently determined by a specific gravity test (9.50), and not recognized as such in any of its previous auction appearances.