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CNG Feature Auction 118

Lot nuber 990

Clodius Macer. Usurper, AD 68. AR Denarius (17mm, 3.66 g, 6h). Carthage mint. Group VI, early summer to early autumn.


CNG Feature Auction 118
Lot: 990.
 Estimated: $ 15 000

Roman Imperial, Coin-in-Hand Video, Silver

Sold For $ 26 000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Go to Live

Clodius Macer. Usurper, AD 68. AR Denarius (17mm, 3.66 g, 6h). Carthage mint. Group VI, early summer to early autumn. ROMA downward on right, S C below, helmeted head of Roma right / L • CLODI MACRI counterclockwise, trophy, with crossed spears behind two oval shields. RIC I 31 var. (all with clockwise rev. legend); Hewitt Group F/4 (unlisted dies); RSC 9; BMCRE p. 287, note *; BN –. Old cabinet tone, some scratches under tone. VF. An apparently unpublished variety of an extremely rare and interesting type.

Ex Numismatica Ars Classica 80 (20 October 2014), lot 69; Áureo & Calicó 241 (8 February 2012), lot 39; Leo Benz Collection (Lanz 94, 22 November 1999), lot 270, purchased from M. Dürr in Carouge, Switzerland, November 1985.

Clodius Macer, propraetore in North Africa, rose in rebellion against the reign of Nero during the Civil War in the spring of AD 68. Like most of his coins, this denarius does not bear his portrait. Only in his latest issues does Macer have his portrait placed on his coins. He includes S C (senatus consulto) on his denarii, most likely to show that his revolt was not against the senate, but against Nero. Clodius Macer did not strike coins in his name until after the death of Nero. Nero committed suicide on 9 June AD 68, thus, the dating of this coin to later in the rebellion, perhaps sometime in early summer to early autumn. All of Macer’s coins are of rather crude style, an indication of the lack of skilled die engravers and the haste at which they were produced. By October, Galba had solidified his power in Rome and ordered Macer’s execution.

K.V. Hewitt in “The Coinage of L. Clodius Macer” in The Numismatic Chronicle, 1983 says that “there are a remarkable number of types and varieties, several known by only single specimens” (p. 64). All of Macer’s coins are extremely rare, with fewer than 85 coins of all types known.

The final winners of all CNG Feature Auction 118 lots will be determined at the live public sale that will be held on 13-14 September 2021. CNG Feature Auction 118 – Session Three – Roman Provincial Coinage Part 2 through Roman Imperial Coinage Part 1 will be held Tuesday morning, 14 September 2021 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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