Heritage World Coin Auctions
NYINC Signature Sale 3081 12-13 Jan 2020
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Ancients
Marcus Aurelius, as Augustus (AD 161-180). AV aureus (20mm, 7.21 gm, 11h). NGC AU 5/5 - 3/5, Fine Style, scratches. Rome, AD 168. M ANTONINVS AVG-ARM PARTH MAX, laureate head of Marcus Aurelius right / TR P XXII•IMP V-COS III, Victory advancing left, wreath upward in right hand, palm cradled in left arm. RIC III 194. Calicó 2008.
The 'Victory' celebrated on this aureus, over the Parthians in a long and difficult war AD 161-163, ended up being a Pyrrhic one for the Romans, as the returning Legions brought with them a virulent plague which quickly spread through most of the Roman Empire and devastated its population. The "Antonine Plague," also called the "Plague of Galen" after the famous physician who strove mightily against it, is now thought to have been smallpox or possibly measles. Europeans seemingly had no exposure to the illness before and died in enormous numbers. While not as devastating as the later Plague of Justinian or the Black Death of the 14th century, it seems to have severely depopulated vast regions and helped bring about the economic stagnation and external invasion that eventually brought down the Western Roman Empire.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/roman-imperial/ancients-marcus-aurelius-as-augustus-ad-161-180-av-aureus-20mm-721-gm-11h-ngc-au-5-5-3-5-fine-style-scr/a/3081-30189.s?type=CoinArchives3081
HID02906262019
© 2019 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved
Estimate: 3000-5000 USD
Marcus Aurelius, as Augustus (AD 161-180). AV aureus (20mm, 7.21 gm, 11h). NGC AU 5/5 - 3/5, Fine Style, scratches. Rome, AD 168. M ANTONINVS AVG-ARM PARTH MAX, laureate head of Marcus Aurelius right / TR P XXII•IMP V-COS III, Victory advancing left, wreath upward in right hand, palm cradled in left arm. RIC III 194. Calicó 2008.
The 'Victory' celebrated on this aureus, over the Parthians in a long and difficult war AD 161-163, ended up being a Pyrrhic one for the Romans, as the returning Legions brought with them a virulent plague which quickly spread through most of the Roman Empire and devastated its population. The "Antonine Plague," also called the "Plague of Galen" after the famous physician who strove mightily against it, is now thought to have been smallpox or possibly measles. Europeans seemingly had no exposure to the illness before and died in enormous numbers. While not as devastating as the later Plague of Justinian or the Black Death of the 14th century, it seems to have severely depopulated vast regions and helped bring about the economic stagnation and external invasion that eventually brought down the Western Roman Empire.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/roman-imperial/ancients-marcus-aurelius-as-augustus-ad-161-180-av-aureus-20mm-721-gm-11h-ngc-au-5-5-3-5-fine-style-scr/a/3081-30189.s?type=CoinArchives3081
HID02906262019
© 2019 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved
Estimate: 3000-5000 USD