Antoninus Pius. AD 138-161. Æ Sestertius (32mm, 24.93 g, 5h). Provincial series. Rome mint. Struck AD 139.

Electronic Auction 500
Lot: 762. Estimated: $ 300

Roman Imperial, Bronze

Sold For $ 250. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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Antoninus Pius. AD 138-161. Æ Sestertius (32mm, 24.93 g, 5h). Provincial series. Rome mint. Struck AD 139. Laureate head right / AFRICA, S C and COS II across fields, Africa, wearing African elephant skin headdress, standing left, holding basket and cornucopia, scorpion at feet. RIC III 576 variant (scorpion instead of lion’s head at feet, COS II across field); Banti 12 variant (same). Brown patina with some areas of roughness, flan crack, rim knock. VF. Removed from NGC encapsulation, graded VF, Strike 5/5, Surface 2/5, edge tapped; .

From the William H. Whetstone Collection.

The Provincial coin issues of Antoninus Pius begin early in his reign, circa AD 139, and represent something of a continuation from the similar series of his predecessor, Hadrian. Unlike Hadrian, Antoninus never left Italy over the 24 years of his reign and never saw the vast majority of the provinces depicted, although he did serve as governor of Asia during his senatorial career. The provincial sestertii of Antoninus are, as a rule, quite rare and difficult to acquire in pleasing grades. William H. Whetstone collected this series; several of his coins appear in this offering and additional coins will be offered in Triton XXV, on January 2022.

Closing Date and Time: 22 September 2021 at 14:13:40 ET.

All winning bids are subject to an 18% buyer’s fee.