Sale: CNG 67, Lot: 1362. Estimate $1500.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 22 September 2004.  Sold For $2700. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

VESPASIAN. 69-79 AD. Æ Sestertius (25.94 gm). Rome mint. Struck 76 AD. Laureate head right / Statue of Jupiter seated facing, holding sceptre, flanked by statues of Juno and Minerva standing facing, holding sceptres, within hexastyle temple set on three-tiered base; statues on either side; pediment decorated with statues of Capitoline Triad and other figures; quadriga and eagles as acroteria; statues along roof line. RIC II 577; BMCRE 722; Cohen 488. VF, Tiber patina. Rare. ($1500)

From the Tony Hardy Collection.

The temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus (Best and Greatest) sat on the Capitoline Hill at the head of the Roman Forum. Although dedicated to the Capitoline Triad (Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva), the temple became associated with Jupiter alone. The first temple was begun under the last Roman king, Tarquinius Superbus and dedicated in 509 BC, the first year of the new Republic. Burning down in 83 BC, it was rebuilt by Sulla and the consul Q. Lutatius Catulus. While periodically struck by lightning, the building remained intact through most of the next two centuries. In 69 AD this version of the temple was burned when the Capitol was stormed by partisans of Vitellius. In 70 AD Vespasian ordered the temple's reconstruction; Tacitus (Hist. 4.4) records in great detail the ground breaking ceremonies. Its completion, larger and more magnificent than its predecessors, was a cause for great celebration, evidenced by striking coins like the present example.