CNG 111, Lot: 818. Estimate $2000. Sold for $1900. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Valens. AD 364-378. AV Solidus (21.5mm, 4.48 g, 11h). Thessalonica mint. Struck AD 364-367. D N VALEN S P F AVG, pearl-diademed, half-length bust left, wearing toga picta, holding mappa in right hand and scepter in left / SALVS REI P, Valens standing facing, head right, right foot on bound captive, holding labarum in right hand and Victory, standing left on globe, in outstretched left; */*//SMTES. RIC IX 3b.2; Depeyrot 31/2. Near EF, light scuff on obverse.

From the Brexit Collection. Ex Goldberg 70 (4 September 2012), lot 3419 (hammer $5000); Künker 191 (22 June 2011), lot 5051.

The garment Valens wears in this pose is the Toga Picta, worn by Roman consuls and generals on triumphal parade. While the elaborate embroidery may seem a late Roman feature, depictions of the Toga Picta on coins of Augustus show similar embellishments (see lot 647, below).