Sale: CNG 70, Lot: 648. Estimate $200.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 21 September 2005.  Sold For $240. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

[Roman Imperial] CLAUDIUS. 41-54 AD. Æ Sestertius (16.36 g, 9h). Imitative issue. Crude laureate head left, retrograde legend; c/m: DV in rectangle, test cut on edge / Crude figure of Spes advancing left, holding flower and raising hem of skirt. Type of RIC I 99; c/m: Martini 2.1372; Pangerl 85d. VF for type, brown patina. ($200)

The DV (dupondius) countermark revalued and certified worn and counterfeit sestertii in circulation along the German frontier. The application of the mark on this coin shows that even the crudest local forgery was accepted. At least the officials ensured that the imitations were of good bronze, as indicated by the test cut which appears on many of these imitations.