VICT BRIT
Pedigreed to 1935

CNG 108, Lot: 654. Estimate $1000. Sold for $1700. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Geta. AD 209-211. Æ Sestertius (32mm, 28.40 g, 12h). Rome mint. Struck AD 211. P SEPTIMIVS GETA PIVS AVG BRIT, laureate head right / VICT BRIT TR POT III COS II, Victory seated right on cuirass, inscribing shield balanced on her knee; arms around, S C in exergue. RIC IV 172b; Banti 60. VF, brown surfaces, a few cleaning marks.

Ex Christopher Corbally Browne Collection (Sotheby’s, 25 March 1935), lot 202.

Beginning in AD 208, Septimius Severus waged a military campaign against the Caledonians in northern Britain with his sons Caracalla and Geta. Due to his father's illness, Caracalla took the lead in managing military operations throughout most of the campaign, while Geta took on administrative duties at the campaign base camp at Eboracum (modern York). By AD 210, all three family members were depicted on coins celebrating their success. This sestertius refers to the end of the British campaign. The obverse legend records Geta's newly adopted title, "Britannicus," while on the reverse Victory is engraving a shield as a memorial to the closing of the campaign.