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CSNS Signature Sale 3099 5-7 May 2022
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Ancients
Commodus, as Augustus (AD 177-192). AV aureus (20mm, 7.12 gm, 6h). NGC Choice AU 5/5 - 4/5, light marks. Rome, AD 192. L AEL AVREL CO-MM AVG P FEL, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust of Commodus right, seen from behind / LIB AVG VIII P M TR P XVII COS VII P P, Liberalitas standing facing, head left, coin counter with five holes in right hand, cornucopia in left. RIC III 239a. Calicó 2280 (this coin). Jameson 150 (this coin). Exceptional portrait and excellent centering on bright flan.
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 95 (6 October 2016); Rauch, Auction 80 (1 June 2007), lot 173; Frédéric Robert Jameson (1861-1942) Collection
This aureus presents us with a splendid image of one of Rome's most dissolute rulers, Commodus, who is credited by Edward Gibbon with nearly single-handedly instigating the Fall of the Roman Empire. He was not alone in this assessment: The Roman historian Dio Cassius said the accession of Commodus marked the Empire's descent "from a kingdom of gold to one of iron and rust." Certainly other factors were at work, but Commodus' own personal qualities, a strange mixture of indolence and megalomania, played a crucial role in this decline. The polar opposite of Marcus Aurelius, his reserved, dutiful father, Commodus indulged his every whim while leaving the administration of Rome to a succession of corrupt favorites. After the execution of his last such vizier in AD 190, he lost all sense of control and launched a nonstop display of self-indulgence which all but bankrupted the Empire. His assassination on New Year's Day, AD 192 opened a Pandora's Box of civil war from which the Empire never fully recovered. Nevertheless, Roman art reached an astounding peak during this era, as witnessed by the many baroque portraits of Commodus and his often beautiful coinage, as seen here.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/roman-imperial/ancients-commodus-as-augustus-ad-177-192-av-aureus-20mm-712-gm-6h-ngc-choice-au-5-5-4-5-light-marks/a/3099-30108.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3099-05052022
HID02906262019
© 2022 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved
Estimate: 10000-15000 USD
Commodus, as Augustus (AD 177-192). AV aureus (20mm, 7.12 gm, 6h). NGC Choice AU 5/5 - 4/5, light marks. Rome, AD 192. L AEL AVREL CO-MM AVG P FEL, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust of Commodus right, seen from behind / LIB AVG VIII P M TR P XVII COS VII P P, Liberalitas standing facing, head left, coin counter with five holes in right hand, cornucopia in left. RIC III 239a. Calicó 2280 (this coin). Jameson 150 (this coin). Exceptional portrait and excellent centering on bright flan.
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 95 (6 October 2016); Rauch, Auction 80 (1 June 2007), lot 173; Frédéric Robert Jameson (1861-1942) Collection
This aureus presents us with a splendid image of one of Rome's most dissolute rulers, Commodus, who is credited by Edward Gibbon with nearly single-handedly instigating the Fall of the Roman Empire. He was not alone in this assessment: The Roman historian Dio Cassius said the accession of Commodus marked the Empire's descent "from a kingdom of gold to one of iron and rust." Certainly other factors were at work, but Commodus' own personal qualities, a strange mixture of indolence and megalomania, played a crucial role in this decline. The polar opposite of Marcus Aurelius, his reserved, dutiful father, Commodus indulged his every whim while leaving the administration of Rome to a succession of corrupt favorites. After the execution of his last such vizier in AD 190, he lost all sense of control and launched a nonstop display of self-indulgence which all but bankrupted the Empire. His assassination on New Year's Day, AD 192 opened a Pandora's Box of civil war from which the Empire never fully recovered. Nevertheless, Roman art reached an astounding peak during this era, as witnessed by the many baroque portraits of Commodus and his often beautiful coinage, as seen here.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/roman-imperial/ancients-commodus-as-augustus-ad-177-192-av-aureus-20mm-712-gm-6h-ngc-choice-au-5-5-4-5-light-marks/a/3099-30108.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3099-05052022
HID02906262019
© 2022 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved
Estimate: 10000-15000 USD