Sale: CNG 66, Lot: 1537. Estimate $750.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 19 May 2004.  Sold For $1100. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS. 193-211 AD. AR Denarius (3.18 gm). Struck 206 AD. Laureate head right / Ship in Circus left, with sail raised; above, four quadrigae around; below, ostrich, lion, two animals, bull; all right; lion left; panther advancing right, head left. RIC IV 274; BMCRE 343; RSC 253. Toned, good VF. Much rarer than the similar type issued in Caracalla's name. ($750)

The games of 206 AD repeat the festivities of 202 AD, which celebrated the return of the imperial family from their successful eastern campaigns. This complex and crowded design recognizes most of the forms of entertainment at the games; the naumachia, a mock sea battle which involved flooding the Circus Maximus, the chariot races at the Hippodrome, and combat between wild beasts.