Sale: CNG 67, Lot: 1387. Estimate $1250.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 22 September 2004.  Sold For $1200. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

DOMITIAN. 81-96 AD. Æ Sestertius (22.81 gm). Rome mint. Struck 88 AD. Laureate head right / COS XIIII LVD SAEC, Domitian seated left on stool set on low daïs inscribed SVF P D, upon which two urns stand, joining hand with citizen standing right; below, child standing left, reaching upward; tetrastyle temple of Jupiter Capitolinus (or Diana Palatina) in perspective in background. RIC II 376; BMCRE 428; Cohen 81. VF, bright orichalcum surfaces, hairline flan crack. Very rare. ($1250)

From the Tony Hardy Collection

INTRO TO Saecular Games Issues

The Ludi Saeculares of 88 AD was an event that was one of the few highlights of Domitian's principate, and the coin types celebrating them are among the most interesting of Domitian's coinage. Combining architectural and ritual motifs, the principal types appeared on his aes denominations, and commemorate most of the major events of the occasion. These inculde: the preparatory ceremony, the distribution of purifying elements (suffimenta) to the people (see lot 1388); the sacrifice of the first night, of a black sheep and goat to the Fates (see lot 1391); the second day's dictating to the matrons by the emperor of the prayer to Juno (see lot 1389); and third day's choral procession of unmarried young people in honor of Apollo and Diana (see lot 1390). Some events remain uncertain (see lot 1392). The locality of each of these events is indicated by the temple appearing in the background of most of the scenes, but only a few are identifiable with certainty.