Triton XXII, Lot: 919. Estimate $500. Sold for $475. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Moneyer issues of Imperatorial Rome. C. Clodius C.f. Vestalis. 43 BC. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.74 g, 8h). Rome mint. Draped bust of Flora right, wearing floral wreath and cruciform earring; lily at her shoulder behind; C • CLODIVS downward before, [C • F •] upward behind / Veiled female (Vestal virgin, Claudia Quinta) seated left, holding a cymbium (two-handled bowl) in her right hand; VESTALIS downward to right. Crawford 512/2; CRI 317; Sydenham 1135; Claudia 13; BMCRR Rome 4196-7; RBW 1790. Choice EF, lightly toned with underlying luster, typical areas of weak strike.

From the Alan J. Harlan Collection, purchased from Edward J. Waddell. Ex Tkalec (24 October 2003), lot 208; Classical Numismatic Group 55 (13 September 2000), lot 1102.

The reverse, in a punning allusion to the moneyer’s name, depicts one of the Vestal Virgins, the sole female priesthood in Rome, and one of its most powerful.