69, Lot: 93. Estimate $200. Sold for $205. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CLAUDIUS. 41-54 AD. Æ Sestertius (33mm, 22.25 gm). Uncertain Gallic mint. Laureate head right / Spes walking left. Cf. RIC I 115; cf. Von Kaenel 1353; cf. Cohen 85. Fine/VF, even, stripped surfaces.

In an attempt to meet the needs of local demand, Claudius' aes coinage was heavily imitated throughout the provinces. Because many of the die engravers making these imitations were highly skilled artisans, style is most often the only key to distinguishing between an imitative and an imperial issue. The portrait and letter styles of this imitation, as well as the centering holes on obverse and reverse, suggest it is either eastern or Balkan in origin.