Seldom Offered Galba Drachm

CNG 109, Lot: 434. Estimate $1500. Sold for $1400. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

EGYPT, Alexandria. Galba. AD 68-69. Æ Drachm (35.6mm, 26.22 g, 12h). Dated RY 2 (AD 68/69). Laureate head right / Draped bust right of Nike; L B (date) to right. Köln 243; Dattari (Savio) 322; K&G 17.22; RPC I 5346; Emmett 175.2. Near VF, brown surfaces, some light scratches. Very rare.

From the New Orleans Collection, purchased from Edward J. Waddell, Ltd. (August 2001).

Galba continued Nero’s emphasis on the production of billon tetradrachms at the Alexandrian mint. His bronze coinage, while not quite as rare as Nero’s, is known only from his second regnal year at Alexandria. The authors of RPC cite only seven examples for this type.