Heritage World Coin Auctions
Monthly Auction 271933 18 Aug 2019
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Ancients
Diva Julia Maesa (AD 218-224/5). AE sestertius (33mm, 27.12 gm, 10h). NGC Choice Fine 4/5 - 2/5, smoothing. Rome. DIVA MAESA-AVGVSTA, veiled, draped bust of Diva Julia Maesa right, seen from front / CONSE-CRATIO, four tiered ustrinum - the lowest most of which represents a plain podium with three festoons; the next tier forms the sepulchral chamber for the reception of the dead body in the center, flanked by two niches on each side with statues and surmounted by a cornice; the tier above has five arch-headed niches with statues and a cornice; and the upper forms a lofty plain attic with hanging drapery in front which forms a pedestal surmounted by the quadriga of the deceased, with a statue in the chariot. All the tiers diminish in width from the base upwards so as to assume a pyramidal form; S C in exergue. RIC IV.II (Severus Alexander) 712. Extremely rare - only one example found in sales archives (Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 54, 24 March 2010, lot 517, realized 46,000 CHF).
From the Morris Collection.
A fantastically detailed reverse type, which is often simply called a 'funeral pyre'. Marvin Tameanko, specialist in ancient architectural coinage, elaborates: "To cremate a body, bones and all (but not the teeth) you need lots of sustained heat. The Romans used a pyre, called a 'rogus', which was built with log cribworks, like a hollow log cabin, erected in stages, getting smaller at the top where the body was placed. The rogus was filled with straw and kindling and set alight. It acted as a chimney and funneled the heat to the top, incinerating the corpse. Herodian, the Roman historian describes the rogus in detail. After the cremation, the ashes were placed in a stone building, called an ustrinum, made to look like the wedding-cake shaped rogus or the Maussoleum of Hailcarnassus and built near the cremation site. The remains of these have been found in Rome as early as 1907."
https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/roman-imperial/diva-julia-maesa-ad-218-224-5-ae-sestertius-33mm-2712-gm-10h-ngc-choice-fine-4-5-2-8-smoothing/p/271933-11452.s?type=CoinArchives271933
HID02906262019
© 2019 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved
Estimate: 500-1000 USD
Diva Julia Maesa (AD 218-224/5). AE sestertius (33mm, 27.12 gm, 10h). NGC Choice Fine 4/5 - 2/5, smoothing. Rome. DIVA MAESA-AVGVSTA, veiled, draped bust of Diva Julia Maesa right, seen from front / CONSE-CRATIO, four tiered ustrinum - the lowest most of which represents a plain podium with three festoons; the next tier forms the sepulchral chamber for the reception of the dead body in the center, flanked by two niches on each side with statues and surmounted by a cornice; the tier above has five arch-headed niches with statues and a cornice; and the upper forms a lofty plain attic with hanging drapery in front which forms a pedestal surmounted by the quadriga of the deceased, with a statue in the chariot. All the tiers diminish in width from the base upwards so as to assume a pyramidal form; S C in exergue. RIC IV.II (Severus Alexander) 712. Extremely rare - only one example found in sales archives (Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 54, 24 March 2010, lot 517, realized 46,000 CHF).
From the Morris Collection.
A fantastically detailed reverse type, which is often simply called a 'funeral pyre'. Marvin Tameanko, specialist in ancient architectural coinage, elaborates: "To cremate a body, bones and all (but not the teeth) you need lots of sustained heat. The Romans used a pyre, called a 'rogus', which was built with log cribworks, like a hollow log cabin, erected in stages, getting smaller at the top where the body was placed. The rogus was filled with straw and kindling and set alight. It acted as a chimney and funneled the heat to the top, incinerating the corpse. Herodian, the Roman historian describes the rogus in detail. After the cremation, the ashes were placed in a stone building, called an ustrinum, made to look like the wedding-cake shaped rogus or the Maussoleum of Hailcarnassus and built near the cremation site. The remains of these have been found in Rome as early as 1907."
https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/roman-imperial/diva-julia-maesa-ad-218-224-5-ae-sestertius-33mm-2712-gm-10h-ngc-choice-fine-4-5-2-8-smoothing/p/271933-11452.s?type=CoinArchives271933
HID02906262019
© 2019 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved
Estimate: 500-1000 USD