Watch List notes:

JDL Collection Part II: Roman Coins
THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

In the name of Agrippina, died October 18, 33, mother of Caligula. Struck by Claudius,

January 25, 41–October 13, 54.
Sestertius, Rome 50–54, Æ 30.34 g.
Obv. AGRIPPINA M F GERMANICI CAESARIS Draped bust
of Agrippina right; border of dots.
Rev. TI ℵ? CLAVDIVS ℵ? CAESAR ℵ? AVG ℵ? GERM ℵ? P ℵ? M ℵ? TR ℵ? P
?? IMP ℵ? P ℵ? P ℵ? around S ℵ? C; border of dots.
Literature
Cohen 3
BMC RE I, 194, 219, pl. 37, 1
RIC I2, 128, 102
BN Claudius 236
B. Lichocka, "Les Monnaies d'Agrippine Major et une hybride barbare", Proceedings of the 10th International Congress of Numismatics, London, September 1986, Wetteren, 1989, pl. 21, 3 (this coin)
M.-M. Bendenoun, Coins of the Ancient World, A portrait of the JDL Collection, Tradart, Genève, 2009, 50 (this coin)
Condition
Rare. A very elegant portrait struck on a broad flan and a delightful brown tone, extremely fine.

Provenance
Frank Sternberg AG XVI, 1985, 254.
The reign of Tiberius was rife with tragedy. Most often these terrible events were framed in the dynastic struggle between the bloodlines of the Julii and the Claudii, and even with the upstart praetorian prefect Aelius Sejanus, who had taken his ambitions so far as to seek the hand of a Julio-Claudian in marriage as he planned a coup against the emperor. A central figure in these events was Agrippina Senior, whose nobility was incom- parable: she was a granddaughter of Augustus, a daughter of Marcus Agrippa and the wife of the heir-apparent Germanicus.
Upon the death of Augustus and the accession of Tiberius, Agrippina's life took a turn for the worse, for supreme power had shifted from the bloodlines of the Julii to the Claudii. Pe- rhaps because her marriage to Germanicus was an ideal union of Julian and Claudian, it became a source of conflict within the imperial household. When Germanicus died late in 19 under suspicious circumstances, Agrippina went on the offensive, devoting the next decade of her life to opposing Tiberius. But it was too little, too late. In 29 the team of Tiberius and Sejanus deprived Agrippina of her freedom, and in 33 she died of
self-imposed starvation.
Three issues of portrait sestertii were struck in honour of Agrip- pina Senior after her death. The first was produced by her son Caligula, who became emperor in 37 and who honored his father, mother and two brothers, all of whom had perished during the reign of Tiberius. His issue shows on its reverse a car- pentum. The next was issued by Agrippina's brother Claudius; it shows on its reverse a large SC surrounded by a Claudian ins- cription. The last is a restoration of the Claudian type by Titus, on which the reverse inscription is dedicated to that emperor.
The inscription on Caligula's sestertius identifies her as the daughter of Marcus Agrippa and the mother of Caligula, whe- reas the Claudian sestertius identifies her as Agrippa's daugh- ter and the wife of Claudius' brother Germanicus. It is worth observing that on the issue of Caligula, Agrippina has a slender profile like that of her son, whereas on Claudius' sestertii her face is more robust in appearance, in keeping with her brother's appearance.