Sale: Triton VIII, Lot: 1005. Estimate $2000.  Closing Date: Monday, 10 January 2005.  Sold For $2750. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

GALBA. 68-69 AD. Æ Sestertius (27.05 gm, 7h). Rome mint. October 68 AD. IMP SER GALBA CA-ES AVG TR P, head right, wearing oak wreath / CONCORD AVG, S C across field, Pax seated left, holding olive branch in right hand and cradling sceptre in left arm; left forearm leaning on back of chair. RIC I 341 var. (laureate head right); cf. ACG 81 (A-/P4; unlisted obverse die); BMCRE pg. 317, ‡ note (Gnecchi, RIN 1896, pg. 158, 20); BN 165 var. (same); Cohen 22 var. (same); S 2115 var. (this coin). Near EF, green patina with brown undertones. ($2000)

From the Michael Weller Collection. Ex Myron Stepath Collection (Classical Numismatic Group 40, 4 December 1996), lot 1409; John Work Garrett Collection I (Leu/Numismatic Fine Arts, 16-18 May 1984), lot 748; M.L. Vierordt Collection (J. Schulman, 5 March 1923), lot 919 (where it realized NLG 250).

Galba's approach to the capital followed the suppression of the revolt of Nymphidius Sabinus. Claiming to be the son of Gaius (Caligula), and appointed by Nero as praefectus praetorio, Sabinus endeavored to further his own ambitions by employing these connections. After first inducing the Praetorian Guard to desert Nero for Galba with the promise of a sizeable donative, and subsequently pressuring his colleague and ally of Nero to resign, Sabinus consequently hoped to take advantage of the new emperor's absence from the capital to begin demanding his own appointment as sole prefect for life. Galba's refusal and appointment of his own candidate caused Sabinus subsequently to stage a failed coup, which resulted in his own death.

While the reverse legend describes the figure as Concordia, the olive branch she holds is more frequently associated with Pax. Because the high anxiety Rome had experienced in the recent revolution compelled Galba to re-establish immediately a sense of peace and stability, the juxtaposition between the coin's reverse legend and figure underscored his attempt to do so. The peace resulting from the suppression of Sabinus' revolt ensured concord throughout the capital as well as the empire.