Sale: CNG 70, Lot: 662. Estimate $500.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 21 September 2005.  Sold For $1350. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

[Early Italian and Roman Issues] ROME. 4th century BC. PB Uniface Oval Sestertius Weight (844.82 g, 12h). IIS= across field / Blank. Good condition, light earth-brown patina over whitish-gray, edge bump and casting pit on reverse. ($500)

From the John F. Sullivan Collection. Ex Italo Vecchi 13 (4 September 1998), lot 1339.

Evidence from primitive unmarked bronze hoards, aes rude, and bars, aes signatum, indicates that weights of early cast coins varied widely enough so as to require weighing bronze currency for each transaction. This lead weight, then, was a necessity during the time of Italian cast coinage. This lead weight of 2 1/2 Pounds equals a Sestertius.