Sale: CNG 66, Lot: 1003. Estimate $1000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 19 May 2004.  Sold For $1000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SPAIN, Emerita. Augustus. 27 BC-14 AD. Æ 33mm (21.13 gm). Facing bust of Silenus; wine pouring from an amphora below / City gate flanked by towers, opening on to a forum lined with shop stalls. RPC I 10 (three specimens cited); Burgos 782. Good VF, green patina, flan defects leaving blank areas. Very rare, possibly the finest known. ($1000)

The reverse architectural type is more complex than the simple "camp gate" described in RPC. We can see a double-arched gateway flanked by twin towers, which appear to be topped by statuary groups. Behind the gate is an open area terminating in a semi-circular apse, the whole lined with T-shaped dividers. The scene appears remarkably like a typical Roman forum, with an open public space lined with shop stalls.