Sale: CNG 67, Lot: 1321. Estimate $600.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 22 September 2004.  Sold For $625. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

NERO. 54-68 AD. Æ As (10.92 gm). Lugdunum (Lyon) mint. Struck circa 66 AD. Bare head right, globe at point of bust / The Ara Pacis: ornamented altar enclosure with double door; ARA PACIS in exergue. RIC I 526; WCN 598; BMCRE 364; Cohen 86. Choice VF, black-brown patina, light smoothing in fields. ($600)

From the Tony Hardy Collection.

The Ara Pacis Augustae, or Altar of Augustan Peace, was an elaborate structure erected on the Campus Martius (along with Augustus' Mausoleum and horologium) and consisted of a sacrificial altar enclosed within a screen. Constructed of Parian marble, the screen panels were carved in high relief: the exterior panels included both mythological and allegorical scenes, while the interior was highlighted by frieze depicting an imperial procession made up of both the imperial family and Rome's leading citizens. Whether this scene depicts the arch's foundation in 13 BC or its dedication in 9 BC has been the subject of much scholarly debate, though the former date has been the more accepted, since the recognizable figure of Marcus Agrippa (died 12 BC) has been included among the imperial family.