Lot 94
Rome. Vitellius, April - December 69 AD. Gold Aureus (7.31 g), Rome, struck August - early December 69 AD. Laureate head of Vitellius right. Reverse: Vesta seated right, holding patera and scepter; PONT MAXIM. RIC 106; Biaggi 282 (this coin); BMCRE 33; Calicó 571 (this coin); C. 71. Lustrous, well struck and with an excellent portrait. Beautifully toned a deep, luscious reddish brown, resplendent with iridescent reds, magentas and steel blues. Very rare. NGC graded About Uncirculated.
Rome witnessed the spectacle of four emperors in AD 69, after the suicide of Nero the previous year, as well as a civil war. Each of these four had larger-than-life personal characteristics which are reflected in the numismatic portraiture and told in historical accounts. As can be imagined, the coinages under Otho and Vitellius are particularly rare.
Estimated Value $70,000 - 80,000.
Ex "Perfectionist Collection," Leu 93, 10 May 2005, lot 11; ex collection of L. Biaggi, Bank Leu 25, 23 April 1980, 261; and from the Bosco Reale hoard of 1895. Illustrated in Money of the World, coin 40.
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| Realized $230,000 |
