Sale: CNG 67, Lot: 1384. Estimate $1000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 22 September 2004.  Sold For $1000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

DOMITIAN. 81-96 AD. Æ Sestertius (22.35 gm). Rome mint. Struck April-November 85 AD. Laureate bust right, wearing aegis / GERMANIA CAPTA, Germania, in attitude of mourning, seated left on shields at base of trophy; German standing right, head left, holding shield. RIC II 278a; BMCRE 325; Cohen 136. Good VF, brown patina, minor roughness. ($1000)

From the Tony Hardy Collection.

Domitian pursued military actions in Germany and Dacia in an effort to shorten Rome's frontier with the barbarian tribes. Success was only achieved by Domitian’s formidable successor, Trajan, yet such competent strategic efforts by Domitian run counter to the typical derogatory bias found in the ancient authors concerning Domitian's reign. This coin, commemorating Rome's "victory" over the Germans, though, suggests more hopeful speculation than any concrete reality.