Sale: Triton IX, Lot: 1451. Estimate $5000.  Closing Date: Monday, 9 January 2006.  Sold For $3500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

DIVA MARCIANA. Died 112/4 AD. Æ Sestertius (27.62 g, 6h). Struck circa 112/4 AD. DIVA AVGVSTA MARCIANA, draped bust right, hair elaborately dressed over brow, above which is a diadem, braided and bound up at the back / EX SENATVS CONSVLTO, S C in exergue, Marciana, holding grain ears in right hand, sceptre in left, seated left on cart drawn by two elephants; each elephant has its own mahout. RIC II 750 var. (Trajan; patera not grain ears); Strack 447 (Trajan); Banti 6; BMCRE 1086 (Trajan); Cohen 13 var. (same). Good Fine, dark brown patina with hues of green, area of minor roughness on reverse, a few light marks. Very rare. ($5000)

From the John F. Sullivan Collection. Ex Numismatica Ars Classica I (19 May 1999), lot 1902.

There is very little is in the historical record of Ulpia Marciana, Trajan's sister. Unlike many other imperial relatives during the Empire, she is thought to have been of very high character. During Trajan's reign, Marciana lived as a widow, and did not take another husband. Marciana was a close friend of Trajan's wife, Plotina, and both jointly accepted the title of Augusta in 105 AD (which they had both rejected in 98 AD). The date of her death is debatable, and although some scholars believe she died in the year she was hailed Augusta, her death is commonly placed in 112 or 114 AD.