Sale: CNG 67, Lot: 1411. Estimate $750.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 22 September 2004.  Sold For $1200. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

TRAJAN. 98-117 AD. Æ Sestertius (26.86 gm). Struck 103 AD. Laureate bust right, wearing aegis / COS V CONGIAR SECVND, Trajan seated left on curule chair on raised daïs, extending hand; before, official seated left, drawing tessera from container and handing it to figure climbing ladder right, who is extending his hand to receive it; statue of Liberalitas standing left, holding abacus, and tripod, on daïs behind. RIC II 450; BMCRE 768; Cohen 61. Near VF, black-brown patina with light-green undertones. Very rare. ($750)

From the Tony Hardy Collection.

The occasion for the second largesse of Trajan's reign is uncertain, but likely tied to the successful conclusion of the first Dacian war the previous year.