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CSNS Signature Sale 3107 3-5 May 2023
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Ancients
Marcus Aurelius, as Augustus (AD 161-180). AV aureus (19mm, 6.87 gm, 5h). NGC Choice VF 5/5 - 2/5, graffito, edge marks. Rome, AD 163. •M•ANTONINVS AVG IMP II, bareheaded, draped, and cuirassed bust of Marcus Aurelius right, seen from behind / SALVTI AVGVSTOR TR P XVII, Salus standing facing, head left, scepter in left hand, feeding serpent coiled around and rising from altar at feet to left, from patera in right hand; COS III in exergue. Calicó 1913. RIC III 75. Firmly struck with strong remnant detailing and brilliance for the grade.
This reverse of this remarkably beautiful gold aureus depicts Salus, goddess of healing, and invokes her help in preserving the "health of the emperors." Marcus Aurelius was never in the best of health and his youthful letters to his mentor, Fronto, serendipitously preserved in a medieval palimpsest, record his frequent complaints of chills, fevers, chest colds, and other varying illnesses. As emperor, the stresses of office were exacerbated by frequent bouts of gastric and respiratory trouble. He was fortunate, then, to have the services of Galen, the greatest physician of his age, who kept him going with a variety of treatments, all carefully recorded in his journals. Galen was also needed as a kind of minister of public health to fight the terrible plague, perhaps smallpox, that swept the classical world after AD 163, carrying off up to half the Roman Empire's population. At that time, invocations for the health of the rulers and the general populace become increasingly common on the Roman coinage.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/roman-imperial/ancients-marcus-aurelius-as-augustus-ad-161-180-av-aureus-19mm-687-gm-5h-ngc-choice-vf-5-5-2-5-graffito-/a/3107-31198.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3107-05032023
HID02906262019
© 2022 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved
Marcus Aurelius, as Augustus (AD 161-180). AV aureus (19mm, 6.87 gm, 5h). NGC Choice VF 5/5 - 2/5, graffito, edge marks. Rome, AD 163. •M•ANTONINVS AVG IMP II, bareheaded, draped, and cuirassed bust of Marcus Aurelius right, seen from behind / SALVTI AVGVSTOR TR P XVII, Salus standing facing, head left, scepter in left hand, feeding serpent coiled around and rising from altar at feet to left, from patera in right hand; COS III in exergue. Calicó 1913. RIC III 75. Firmly struck with strong remnant detailing and brilliance for the grade.
This reverse of this remarkably beautiful gold aureus depicts Salus, goddess of healing, and invokes her help in preserving the "health of the emperors." Marcus Aurelius was never in the best of health and his youthful letters to his mentor, Fronto, serendipitously preserved in a medieval palimpsest, record his frequent complaints of chills, fevers, chest colds, and other varying illnesses. As emperor, the stresses of office were exacerbated by frequent bouts of gastric and respiratory trouble. He was fortunate, then, to have the services of Galen, the greatest physician of his age, who kept him going with a variety of treatments, all carefully recorded in his journals. Galen was also needed as a kind of minister of public health to fight the terrible plague, perhaps smallpox, that swept the classical world after AD 163, carrying off up to half the Roman Empire's population. At that time, invocations for the health of the rulers and the general populace become increasingly common on the Roman coinage.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/roman-imperial/ancients-marcus-aurelius-as-augustus-ad-161-180-av-aureus-19mm-687-gm-5h-ngc-choice-vf-5-5-2-5-graffito-/a/3107-31198.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3107-05032023
HID02906262019
© 2022 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved