Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Electronic Auction 435 2 Jan 2019
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Britannicus. AD 41-55. Æ Sestertius (34mm, 23.57 g, 6h). Uncertain Balkan/Thracian mint. Struck under Claudius, AD 50-54. Bareheaded and draped bust right / Mars advancing left, holding spear and shield. RIC I p. 130, note; von Kaenel, Thrakien, Type A, B3 (same obv. die?). Fine, dark green and brown patina, roughness. The rarer of the two varieties of this very rare sestertius, with the portrait of Britannicus facing right not left.
Ex New York Sale XI (11 January 2006), lot 265 (unsold on an estimate of $7500).
Tiberius Claudius Germanicus was born on 12 February AD 41, only a few weeks after his father, Claudius, became emperor. After Claudius' conquest of Britain in AD 43, the boy's name was changed to Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, and the sources refer to him simply as Britannicus. In AD 55, while dining with friends, he was poisoned and died. The murder was almost certainly ordered by Nero, who wanted to clear the way for his own succession to the throne.
The attribution of the sestertii of Britannicus has been a matter of some speculation. Formerly, the issue had been attributed to Rome around the end of Claudius' reign when Britannicus adopted the toga virilis. Mattingly, however, demonstrated that such an attribution was problematic, since the Rome mint was not producing aes at that time. Instead, he assigned the type to the early years of Titus, when many restoration and commemorative issues were being struck, a logical assumption given the reported close friendship between the two. More recently, substantial numbers of Latin coins (sestertii and dupondii) in the name of Britannicus, Agrippina Jr., Nero Caesar, and Nero Augustus have been found in the Balkan region, and von Kaenel argued for a Thracian origin for the series. Von Kaenel's analysis is plausible, since the style and fabric of the coins, as well as the find spots, indeed suggest a Thracian mint, and such local issues would have been struck for use by the legions servicing the border.
Ex New York Sale XI (11 January 2006), lot 265 (unsold on an estimate of $7500).
Tiberius Claudius Germanicus was born on 12 February AD 41, only a few weeks after his father, Claudius, became emperor. After Claudius' conquest of Britain in AD 43, the boy's name was changed to Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, and the sources refer to him simply as Britannicus. In AD 55, while dining with friends, he was poisoned and died. The murder was almost certainly ordered by Nero, who wanted to clear the way for his own succession to the throne.
The attribution of the sestertii of Britannicus has been a matter of some speculation. Formerly, the issue had been attributed to Rome around the end of Claudius' reign when Britannicus adopted the toga virilis. Mattingly, however, demonstrated that such an attribution was problematic, since the Rome mint was not producing aes at that time. Instead, he assigned the type to the early years of Titus, when many restoration and commemorative issues were being struck, a logical assumption given the reported close friendship between the two. More recently, substantial numbers of Latin coins (sestertii and dupondii) in the name of Britannicus, Agrippina Jr., Nero Caesar, and Nero Augustus have been found in the Balkan region, and von Kaenel argued for a Thracian origin for the series. Von Kaenel's analysis is plausible, since the style and fabric of the coins, as well as the find spots, indeed suggest a Thracian mint, and such local issues would have been struck for use by the legions servicing the border.