Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 120 6-7 Oct 2020
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Claudius augustus, 41 – 54
Didrachm, Caesarea Cappadociae circa 44-48, AR 7.49 g. TI CLAVD CAESAR – AVG GERM P M TR P Laureate head l. Rev. Claudius in slow triumphal quadriga r., holding sceptre; in exergue, DE BRITANNI[S]. C 15. BMC 237. Sydenham, Caesarea, 55. RIC 122. CBN 290. RPC 3625.
Rare and in exceptional condition for the issue, among the finest specimens known.
Struck on very fresh metal and with a lovely iridescent tone, almost invisible
traces of double strking on reverse, otherwise good extremely fine
Ex Triton X, 2007, 582 and Triton XXIII, 2020, 669 sales. From the prof. David R. Beatty collection.
Claudius was the youngest of the three surviving children of Drusus and Antonia Minor and the first Roman emperor to have been born outside Rome. He suffered an illness while still very young which left him with a speech impediment and limp. This caused much embarrassment to his aristocratic family who attempted to keep him from both the public and, unlike other sons of the imperial household, out of politics. It was this same disability, however, that saved him from the intrigues at court that proved fatal to so many of his relatives during the reigns of Tiberius and Caligula; by the time he was elevated to the throne by the Praetorian Guard after Caligula's assassination, he was the last surviving male of his family. Despite having little experience in politics, Claudius had a keen and scholarly intellect, and soon proved himself an able administrator. He respected the senate and declined many honors traditionally bestowed on an emperor, preferring to earn them instead, and he initiated extensive public works that were necessary and beneficial. Despite his effectiveness as ruler, however, it seems Claudius possibly fell victim to the intrigues of his fourth wife, Agrippina the Younger: wanting her own son, Nero, to succeed her husband on the throne, she fed Claudius a dish of poisonous mushrooms, or so the story goes as related by Suetonius. Seneca said that Claudius died of natural causes, and as he was already 64 at the time of his death and an alcoholic, it may be that he simply succumbed to infirmity related to old age and excessive drinking. The reverse displays Claudius in a triumphal quadriga and in the exergue the legend DE BRITANNIS. The type celebrates Claudius successful invasion of Britain in AD 43 under the leadership of the illustrious senator and general, Aulus Plautius.
Didrachm, Caesarea Cappadociae circa 44-48, AR 7.49 g. TI CLAVD CAESAR – AVG GERM P M TR P Laureate head l. Rev. Claudius in slow triumphal quadriga r., holding sceptre; in exergue, DE BRITANNI[S]. C 15. BMC 237. Sydenham, Caesarea, 55. RIC 122. CBN 290. RPC 3625.
Rare and in exceptional condition for the issue, among the finest specimens known.
Struck on very fresh metal and with a lovely iridescent tone, almost invisible
traces of double strking on reverse, otherwise good extremely fine
Ex Triton X, 2007, 582 and Triton XXIII, 2020, 669 sales. From the prof. David R. Beatty collection.
Claudius was the youngest of the three surviving children of Drusus and Antonia Minor and the first Roman emperor to have been born outside Rome. He suffered an illness while still very young which left him with a speech impediment and limp. This caused much embarrassment to his aristocratic family who attempted to keep him from both the public and, unlike other sons of the imperial household, out of politics. It was this same disability, however, that saved him from the intrigues at court that proved fatal to so many of his relatives during the reigns of Tiberius and Caligula; by the time he was elevated to the throne by the Praetorian Guard after Caligula's assassination, he was the last surviving male of his family. Despite having little experience in politics, Claudius had a keen and scholarly intellect, and soon proved himself an able administrator. He respected the senate and declined many honors traditionally bestowed on an emperor, preferring to earn them instead, and he initiated extensive public works that were necessary and beneficial. Despite his effectiveness as ruler, however, it seems Claudius possibly fell victim to the intrigues of his fourth wife, Agrippina the Younger: wanting her own son, Nero, to succeed her husband on the throne, she fed Claudius a dish of poisonous mushrooms, or so the story goes as related by Suetonius. Seneca said that Claudius died of natural causes, and as he was already 64 at the time of his death and an alcoholic, it may be that he simply succumbed to infirmity related to old age and excessive drinking. The reverse displays Claudius in a triumphal quadriga and in the exergue the legend DE BRITANNIS. The type celebrates Claudius successful invasion of Britain in AD 43 under the leadership of the illustrious senator and general, Aulus Plautius.