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Long Beach Signature Sale 3042 17-18 Sep 2015
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Anthemius, Western Roman Emperor (AD 467-472). AV tremissis (15mm, 1.46 gm, 6h). Milan. D N ANTEHEMIVS (sic) PERPET VAG (sic), pearl-diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Cross within wreath, large jewel at top, COMOB in exergue. RIC X 2841 variant (obverse legend). DOC 927 (same obverse die). Very rare! Well struck, with complete legends. NGC AU 5/5 - 3/5.Born into a distinguished Constantinopolitan family, Anthemius was highly regarded as a general and magistrate, and had been considered a prime candidate for the East Roman throne when his father-in-law, the emperor Marcian, died in AD 457. Instead, Leo I got the job, but Anthemius took the setback in stride and won a series of military victories over the Goths and Huns on Leo's behalf. In the mid AD 460s, Vandal raids on Greece convinced Leo that he needed to cooperate with the West Roman regime headed by the half-barbarian generalissimo Ricimer. In AD 467, with Ricimer's approval, Leo appointed Anthemius to the vacant western throne. Anthemius reached Rome on April 12 and was duly hailed as Augustus by the Senate, but many Italians viewed him as a Greek interloper and this colored his relations with the locals from the outset. In AD 468, a massive joint naval expedition against the Vandals in North Africa came to grief, badly undermining Anthemius' position. Visigothic gains in Gaul further eroded his popularity over the next few years and caused a dangerous rift to develop between Anthemius and Ricimer. Leo tried to mediate by sending a highborn envoy named Olybrius to Italy in the spring of AD 472, but Ricimer decided Olybrius would prove a more pliable puppet emperor and marched against Rome to depose Anthemius. Rome underwent a three-month siege and finally fell to a determined attack on the Pons Aelius. Anthemius donned the garb of a beggar and tried to escape, but was identified, captured and beheaded, probably on July 11, AD 472.
Estimate: 2500-3500 USD
Anthemius, Western Roman Emperor (AD 467-472). AV tremissis (15mm, 1.46 gm, 6h). Milan. D N ANTEHEMIVS (sic) PERPET VAG (sic), pearl-diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Cross within wreath, large jewel at top, COMOB in exergue. RIC X 2841 variant (obverse legend). DOC 927 (same obverse die). Very rare! Well struck, with complete legends. NGC AU 5/5 - 3/5.Born into a distinguished Constantinopolitan family, Anthemius was highly regarded as a general and magistrate, and had been considered a prime candidate for the East Roman throne when his father-in-law, the emperor Marcian, died in AD 457. Instead, Leo I got the job, but Anthemius took the setback in stride and won a series of military victories over the Goths and Huns on Leo's behalf. In the mid AD 460s, Vandal raids on Greece convinced Leo that he needed to cooperate with the West Roman regime headed by the half-barbarian generalissimo Ricimer. In AD 467, with Ricimer's approval, Leo appointed Anthemius to the vacant western throne. Anthemius reached Rome on April 12 and was duly hailed as Augustus by the Senate, but many Italians viewed him as a Greek interloper and this colored his relations with the locals from the outset. In AD 468, a massive joint naval expedition against the Vandals in North Africa came to grief, badly undermining Anthemius' position. Visigothic gains in Gaul further eroded his popularity over the next few years and caused a dangerous rift to develop between Anthemius and Ricimer. Leo tried to mediate by sending a highborn envoy named Olybrius to Italy in the spring of AD 472, but Ricimer decided Olybrius would prove a more pliable puppet emperor and marched against Rome to depose Anthemius. Rome underwent a three-month siege and finally fell to a determined attack on the Pons Aelius. Anthemius donned the garb of a beggar and tried to escape, but was identified, captured and beheaded, probably on July 11, AD 472.
Estimate: 2500-3500 USD