Sale: CNG 64, Lot: 836. Estimate $1000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 24 September 2003.  Sold For $850. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SEXTUS POMPEY, son of Pompey the Great. 44-43 BC. AR Denarius (3.96 gm). Massalia mint. Bare head of Pompey the Great right; dolphin below, trident before / Galley sailing right under full sail; star in left field. Crawford 483/2; CRI 235; Sydenham 1350; RSC 20 (Pompey the Great). VF, small edge cut, fields smoothed over flan crack. ($1000)

From the Tony Hardy Collection.

Quintus Nasidius was commander of Sextus' naval fleet while Sextus was in Massalia watching political events unfold further east. Coins of this issue do not bear the title praefectus classis et orae maritimae (commander-in-chief of the fleet and of the sea coasts) awarded to Sextus by the Senate in April 43 BC, indicating a prior striking date. They also do not bear Sextus' name, although the trident, dolphin, and legend NEPTVNI may refer to Sextus' naval superiority in the western Mediterranean.