Sale: CNG 67, Lot: 1085. Estimate $400.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 22 September 2004.  Sold For $550. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

MOESIA INFERIOR, Nicopolis. Geta. 209-212 AD. Æ 27mm (11.39 gm). Flavius Ulpianus, magistrate. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind / City gate, small temple seen through doorway, large colonnaded building above. Cf. AMNG I 1331 (Severus) = BMC Thrace pg. 42, 7 (same) = Price & Trell 45 (fig. 26) (Severus); SNG Copenhagen -. VF, emerald green patina. Minor roughness on the obverse. Very rare. ($400)

A magnificent and complex piece of architectural design on a small scale. What appears at first glance to be a monumental city gate is in reality the juxtaposition of three different pieces of civic architecture. The imposing brick city gate with arched doorway is the centerpiece, and through the doorway can be seen in the far distance a tetrastyle temple. Above the city gate is a third building, most likely a colonnaded stoa or marketplace with central pedimented hall flanked by two wings. This well preserved coin presents in startling clarity three aspects of the civic life of Nicopolis.