Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XX 29-30 Oct 2020
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Lucius Verus AV Aureus. Rome, AD 168. L VERVS AVG ARM PARTH MAX, laureate and draped bust right / TR P VIII•IMP V COS III, Aequitas seated to left, holding scales and cornucopiae. RIC 593; C. -; BMCRE 480; Calicó 2203 = Triton V, 2000. 7.28g, 20mm, 5h.
Fleur De Coin; far superior to the Calicó plate coin, and most likely the finest known example. Extremely Rare.
From the Long Valley River Collection;
Ex Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction XV, 5 April 2018, lot 573;
Ex property of B.R.S., United Kingdom.
The years prior to the striking of this coinage had witnessed a successful invasion of Parthian territory under the command of Lucius Verus that ensured peace with Parthia for many years, but closer to home Germanic invasions striking into the heart of the empire required the renewed attention of the emperors to military matters. Thus in AD 168 Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius left Rome to wage war against the Marcomanni. This war would last until 180, but Verus did not see the end of it - the legionaries returning from Parthia had brought with them a terrible disease that would come to be known as the Antonine Plague, or the Plague of Galen, which may have been either smallpox or measles. The plague claimed the life of Lucius Verus in 169 as he returned to Rome from campaign, and those of some five million other Romans, it is estimated.
Fleur De Coin; far superior to the Calicó plate coin, and most likely the finest known example. Extremely Rare.
From the Long Valley River Collection;
Ex Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction XV, 5 April 2018, lot 573;
Ex property of B.R.S., United Kingdom.
The years prior to the striking of this coinage had witnessed a successful invasion of Parthian territory under the command of Lucius Verus that ensured peace with Parthia for many years, but closer to home Germanic invasions striking into the heart of the empire required the renewed attention of the emperors to military matters. Thus in AD 168 Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius left Rome to wage war against the Marcomanni. This war would last until 180, but Verus did not see the end of it - the legionaries returning from Parthia had brought with them a terrible disease that would come to be known as the Antonine Plague, or the Plague of Galen, which may have been either smallpox or measles. The plague claimed the life of Lucius Verus in 169 as he returned to Rome from campaign, and those of some five million other Romans, it is estimated.