Sale: Triton VIII, Lot: 755. Estimate $2000.  Closing Date: Monday, 10 January 2005.  Sold For $4500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

BITHYNIA, Nicaea. Domitia Lucilla, mother of Marcus Aurelius. Æ 29mm (16.50 gm, 7h). DOMITI LOUKILLAN NEIKAIEIC, draped bust of Domitia right, hair coiled on top of head / M AVPHLIOC OVHPOC KAICAP, Aurelius on horseback right, holding couched lance in right hand. RG pg. 414, 122 = Cohen 1, otherwise unpublished. VF, tan patina, corroded. Extremely rare, one of two known, the other in the BN. ($2000)

The specimen of this coin in Paris has been known since 1863, being the subject of some debate concerning its authenticity. This second specimen is from the same dies and seems to confirm the reading in Cohen. Domitia's husband, Annius Verus died shortly after the birth of their son in 121 AD, but her family wealth and close connections to the imperial court insured that the youth came to the attention of the emperor Hadrian, who in 138 AD advised Antoninus Pius to adopt him. This coin was probably struck shortly after the accession of Antoninius Pius, and marks the noble family lineage of the new heir apparent of the Roman empire.