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CSNS Signature Sale 3107 3-5 May 2023
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Ancients
Commodus, as Augustus (AD 177-192). AV aureus (20mm, 7.13 gm, 12h). NGC AU 5/5 - 3/5. 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, tabula with five holes in right hand, cornucopia cradled in left. Calicó 2281 (same obverse die). RIC III 239a. Gorgeous flow lines radiate from the central fields, accompanied by a handsome naturalistic portrait of the emperor.
Ex Harlan Berk, private sale with old dealer's tag; Sotheby's, Zurich (1993), lot 1611; J. P. Morgan Collection, Stack's, Auction 355 (14 September 1983), lot 88; J. P. Morgan Collection, Wayte Raymond, Fixed Price List (1953), lot 152; Marquis Carlo Strozzi Collection (Sambon & Sangiorgi, 15 April 1907), lot 1929
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, such as this example.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/roman-imperial/ancients-commodus-as-augustus-ad-177-192-av-aureus-20mm-713-gm-12h-ngc-au-5-5-3-5/a/3107-30067.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3107-05032023
HID02906262019
© 2022 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved
Estimate: 10000-15000 USD
Commodus, as Augustus (AD 177-192). AV aureus (20mm, 7.13 gm, 12h). NGC AU 5/5 - 3/5. 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, tabula with five holes in right hand, cornucopia cradled in left. Calicó 2281 (same obverse die). RIC III 239a. Gorgeous flow lines radiate from the central fields, accompanied by a handsome naturalistic portrait of the emperor.
Ex Harlan Berk, private sale with old dealer's tag; Sotheby's, Zurich (1993), lot 1611; J. P. Morgan Collection, Stack's, Auction 355 (14 September 1983), lot 88; J. P. Morgan Collection, Wayte Raymond, Fixed Price List (1953), lot 152; Marquis Carlo Strozzi Collection (Sambon & Sangiorgi, 15 April 1907), lot 1929
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, such as this example.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/roman-imperial/ancients-commodus-as-augustus-ad-177-192-av-aureus-20mm-713-gm-12h-ngc-au-5-5-3-5/a/3107-30067.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3107-05032023
HID02906262019
© 2022 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved
Estimate: 10000-15000 USD