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Research Coins: Feature Auction

 
Sale: CNG 70, Lot: 777. Estimate $750. 
Closing Date: Wednesday, 21 September 2005. 
Sold For $1800. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ANTONINUS PIUS. 138-161 AD. Æ Sestertius (28.33 g, 12h). Struck 149 AD. Laureate head right / Crossed cornucopiae from which a grape bunch flanked by two grain ears hang, surmounted by busts of two boys, vis-à-vis. RIC III 857; BMCRE 1827; Cohen 813. VF, black patina, minor roughness, slight obverse die shift, light scratches in field on reverse. ($750)

The infants are thought to represent T. Aelius Antoninus and T. Aurelius Antoninus, the twin sons of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina Junior born in 149 AD. These were the first male offspring of the couple, offering hope for the establishment of the new dynasty, but both died in infancy. This coin design was modelled on the sestertius of the sons of Drusus and Livia Drusilla (Livilla), Tiberius and Germanicus Gemellus (cf. RIC I 42 [Tiberius] - see lot 734 above).