Sale: Triton IX, Lot: 1589. Estimate $5000.  Closing Date: Monday, 9 January 2006.  Sold For $12000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

DIOCLETIAN. 284-305 AD. AV Aureus (5.52 g, 7h). Cyzicus mint. Pre-reform, struck 286-287 AD. IMP C C VAL DIOCLETIANVS AVG, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind / FATIS VICTRICIBVS, the Parcae standing facing, holding three cornucopiae and two rudders; S C. RIC V 294; Lukanc 9; Depeyrot 5/5; Calicó 4449; Cohen 58. Superb EF, lustrous. ($5000)

Ex Numismatica Ars Classica 27 (12 May 2004), lot 496.

The Parcae - Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos - were the daughters of Erebus (Night). The Romans generally referred to them as Fata, or Fate. They were responsible for human destiny: the first held the distaff from which the thread of life was woven, the second spun it to the appropriate length, and the third cut it at the appointed time. The remarkable reverse legend, FATIS VICTRICIBVS, declares that destiny is left "to the victorious Fates."