Sale: CNG 69, Lot: 1538. Estimate $2500.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 8 June 2005.  Sold For $3000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

NERO. 54-68 AD. Æ Sestertius (25.26 gm, 7h). Rome mint. Struck 64 AD. Laureate bust right, wearing aegis / Port of Ostia with eight ships within the harbor, at the top is a pharus surmounted by a statue of Neptune, below is a reclining figure of Tiber, holding a rudder and dolphin. RIC I 178; BMCRE -; Cohen 38. VF, brown surfaces, corrosion on reverse. ($2500)

From the Tony Hardy Collection.

While Julius Caesar recognized the value of expanding Rome's port facilitites at Ostia, it was Claudius who began actual building in 42 AD. As part of the construction, one of Caligula's pleasure galleys was scuttled and filled with cement; above it was constructed a lighthouse surmounted by a statue of Neptune. Although the actual date of completion is not certain, it must have occurred shortly before this sestertius was minted. A further expansion of the facilities was required under Trajan and Hadrian. By the fourth century, however, the port's importance began to diminish as a result of silting. Soon the region became a breeding ground for malaria and was abandoned.