Sale: CNG 67, Lot: 1552. Estimate $500.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 22 September 2004.  Sold For $400. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ANTONINUS PIUS. 138-161 AD. Æ Sestertius (24.46 gm). Struck 160-161 AD. Laureate head right / Pietas standing left, cradling infants; child standing on either side at feet. RIC III 1045; BMCRE 2109; Cohen 628. Good VF, black-green patina. ($500)

From the Michael Weller Collection. Ex Classical Numismatic Group 55 (13 September 2000), lot 1262; Leu 20 (25-26 April 1978), lot 322.

The marriage of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina Jr. was an extremely fertile union, producing thirteen children, three of whom survived into adulthood. An earlier pair of twins, T. Aelius Aurelius and T. Aurelius Antioninus, born in 149 AD, died shortly thereafter. In 161 AD she dutifully produced a second pair of twins, commemorated by the two infants Pietas cradles; one of these twins was the future emperor Commodus.

For another issue commemorating the twins’ birth, see lot 1574 below.