Sale: CNG 63, Lot: 1238. Estimate $750.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 21 May 2003.  Sold For $1150. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

AGRIPPINA JR., wife of Claudius. Æ Dupondius (16.83 gm). Thracian mint. Draped bust left, hair in long plait down neck / Ceres seated left, holding grain ears and long torch. RIC I -; Von Kaenel, SNR 63 (1984), A9 and Tafel 25, 32-4; cf. Cohen 1; CNG 32 (7 December 1994), lot 359 (same dies); Lanz 102 (28 May 2001), lot 481. See also RPC I pp. 311 and 319 for a discussion of this issue. Fine, dark brown patina, scattered pitting, light smoothing in fields. ($750)

Latin coins (sestertii and dupondii) in the name of Britannicus, Agrippina Jr., and the young Nero have been found localized in the Balkan region, and were most likely struck at a local mint servicing the legions guarding the border. Only two specimens of the dupondius were known to von Kaenel, one in very poor condition in the Athens Museum and another that appeared in two Rollin and Feuardent sales in the 19th century (Hoffman 1896, lot 1306 and de Quelen 1888, lot 796). A line drawing of the second coin (A9) in von Kaenel suggests this could be the same coin, although it is more complete in several details than the piece illustrated in the drawing, possibly the result of a later, more thorough cleaning. The missing reverse legend and S C is consistent with a provincial issue not issued under the nominal authority of the Roman Senate. RPC I posited Perinthus as a mint source, though always prefacing any opinion with "if any of them are genuine." Since that volume's publication, more examples from the Balkans have begun to appear on the market, all of which clearly appear genuine.