Sale: Triton VIII, Lot: 1099. Estimate $1500.  Closing Date: Monday, 10 January 2005.  Sold For $2400. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

NERO. 54-68 AD. Æ Dupondius (13.37 gm, 7h). Lugdunum (Lyon) mint. Struck circa 65 AD. NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GER P M TR P IMP P, laureate head right / MAC AVG, S C on either side of steps, façade of the Macellum Magnum: nude male statue standing facing within cylindrical arched tetrastyle entrance set on tiered base with central staircase; upper tristyle story surmounted by ornate conical dome; ornate gating in intercolumnations; two-story tristyle porch on either side; one intercolumnation arched on right wing; upper story garlanded. RIC I 399; WCN 498; Lyon 76/1 (D253/R263); BMCRE -; BN 86 var. (laureate head left); Cohen -. Near EF, mottled brown and red patina with flecks of black, obverse a little soft at edge. ($1500)

From the Tony Hardy Collection. Ex Münzen und Medaillen Liste 583 (February 1995), lot 25.

The Macellum Magnum was Nero’s great provision market, probably dating from 59 AD. This magnificent structure, originally occupying the middle of a square lined with porticoes and shops, was located on the Caelian Hill. During the turbulent fifth century AD, the building fell into partial ruin, until it was transformed into the church of St. Stefano Rotondo under Pope Simplicius (468-482).