Extremely Rare Parthian Victory Aureus
Published in 1985
CNG 111, Lot: 750. Estimate $15000.
Sold for $21700. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee. |
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Septimius Severus. AD 193-211. AV Aureus (20mm, 7.02 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 204. SEVERVS PIVS AVG P M TR P XII, laureate head right / VICTORIA PARTHICA MAXIMA, Victory, winged and draped, advancing left, holding wreath in extended right hand and palm frond in left. RIC 195B var. (bust type); Calicó 2569 (not pictured,
this coin referenced); BMCRE p. 248, † var. (bust type); Biaggi –; Jameson –; Mazzini –; J. R. Cayón,
Compendio de las Monedas del Imperio Romano vol. I (Madrid, 1985), p. 723, 22 (
this coin). EF, light iridescent toning over lustrous surfaces. Well struck from dies of fine style. Extremely rare.
From the Brexit Collection.
This would appear to be the only recorded example of this aureus type, recorded in the 1985 Spanish publication of Juan R. Cayón and subsequently noted by Calicó in 2003, but otherwise unpublished. RIC records an example with the same obverse legend and reverse type, but with a draped and cuirassed bust instead of the laureate head seen here. The dated obverse inscription, the exquisite engraving of the dies, and the exceptionally well-centered strike would seem to mark this as a special, limited issue, perhaps explaining its extreme rarity.
