Sale: CNG 67, Lot: 1272. Estimate $150.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 22 September 2004.  Sold For $200. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

DIVUS AUGUSTUS. Died 14 AD. AR Antoninianus (3.98 gm). Commemorative issue struck under Trajan Decius, 250/1 AD. Radiate head right / Eagle standing right, head left, wings outspread. RIC IV 77 (Decius); RSC -. Good VF, light porosity. ($150)

From the Garth R. Drewry Collection. Ex Bowers and Merena (21-23 March 1996), lot 3115 (part of).

When Decius became emperor shortly after the millennium of Rome, he attempted to garner support by restoring the traditional Roman religion. However, by this time the old Roman pantheon was no longer in vogue. Therefore, Decius issued a series of coins commemorating the deified emperors. The list of rulers commemorated, eleven in all, falls short of the total then residing with Jupiter on Olympus, and there is no explanation as to why the series lacks such figures as the deified Julius Caesar, Claudius, Lucius Verus, Pertinax, or Caracalla. To further confuse matters, the series does include one emperor who was never deified and whose appearance thus remains an enigma - Severus Alexander.

In RIC IV, Mattingly rather unconvincingly attributed the 'Divus' types struck under Decius to the mint at Milan. Via a study of die-linkage using British Museum specimens as well as examples that have appeared in various auctions over the years, K.J.J. Elks has since refuted Mattingly's attribution, placing the 'Divi' series in the last issue of Decius struck at Rome (see "Reattribution of the Milan Coins of Trajan Decius to the Rome Mint," NumChron 1972, pp. 111-115 and pls. 14-15).

See lots 1368, 1379, 1554, 1555, 1600, and 1650 for other examples from this interesting series.