Sale: CNG 63, Lot: 1274. Estimate $3000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 21 May 2003.  Sold For $2800. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

VESPASIAN. 69-79 AD. AV Aureus (7.18 gm). Lugdunum (Lyon) mint. Struck 71 AD. Laureate head right / Nemesis advancing right, holding out fold of dress, and caduceus; serpent right, before. RIC II 297; Cohen 283. Toned, nice VF. A revival of the Pax-Nemesis type of Claudius (cf. RIC I 9). ($3000)

By 71 AD, the lengthy unrest in Gaul, beginning with Vindex in the last days of Nero's reign, and, more recently, the attempted grassroots Gallic secession under Civilis, commander of the Batavian auxiliaries, was successfully quelled under Vespasian's generals, Mucianus and Cerealis. The revolt of Civilis was particularly problematic, since it threatened the loss of an important and wealthy province and would weaken the Rhine frontier; unchecked, it could renew troubles in other regions of the empire, particularly Judaea. Thus, the device of Nemesis, the harbinger of swift and stinging retribution, and its minting at Lugdunum, made a pointed statement about Vespasian's abilities as emperor that neither the local citizenry, nor anyone else in the empire, could fail to recognize. A noteworthy example with important historical connections.