Commodus. AV Aureus (21mm, 7.33 g, 12h). Rome mint. Struck AD 185.

Triton XXV
Lot: 932. Estimated: $ 15 000

Roman Imperial, Coin-in-Hand Video, Gold

Sold For $ 78 000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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Commodus. AV Aureus (21mm, 7.33 g, 12h). Rome mint. Struck AD 185. COMM • ANT • AVG • P • BRIT, bareheaded, draped and cuiassed bust right, viewed from front / P M TR P X IMP VII COS IIII P P, VIRT AVG in exergue, Commodus astride horse rearing to right, cloak flying behind, preparing to cast javelin at lion crouching left below. RIC III 114; MIR 18, 666-2/13; Calicó 2362 (R3; same obv. die as illustration); BMCRE 168; Biaggi 1024 (same obv. die). Fully lustrous, a few faint hairlines in fields. Superb EF. Very rare and superior to the two examples in CoinArchives.

In the Roman Empire, the privilege of hunting lions was often reserved to the emperor himself, to be granted to others only by special dispensation. Cassius Dio recounts that Commodus jealously guarded this prerogative. When he heard a provincial nobleman named Julius Alexander of Emesa in Syria (a kinsman of the future empress Julia Domna) had become famous for killing a lion with a javelin from horseback, Commodus ordered that he be arrested and executed. Julius Alexander could have escaped, but could not bring himself to part with his male lover, who wearied of the pursuit. “And so, when he was being overtaken, he killed both the boy and himself” (Dio, 73.14).

The final winners of all Triton XXV lots will be determined at the live public sale that will be held on 11-12 January 2022. Triton XXV – Session Three – Roman Republican & Imperatorial Coinage through Byzantine Coinage will be held Wednesday morning, 12 January 2022 beginning at 9:00 AM ET.

Winning bids are subject to a 20% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 22.50% for all others.

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