Auction Catalogue

15 February 2017

Starting at 1:00 PM

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A Distinguished Collection of Roman Bronze Coins, the Property of a Gentleman

Live Online Auction

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Lot

№ 32

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15 February 2017

Hammer Price:
£5,000

Roman Imperial Coinage, Galba, Sestertius, Rome, June-August 68, laureate and draped bust right, imp ser galba avg tr p, rev. spqr ob civ ser in three lines within oak-wreath, s c in field, 23.30g (RIC 262; BMC 117; C 297; Sear 2125). Better than very fine, olive-green patina £800-1,000

Provenance: C.S. Bement Collection, Naville Auction VIII (Lucerne), 25-8 June 1924, lot 683; E.G. Spencer-Churchill Collection, Ars Classica Auction XIII (Lucerne), 27-9 June 1928, lot 1606; bt Spink May 1938.

The two most prolific reverse types of Galba are Roma and the oak-wreath. “This was Galba’s twofold rallying cry, that by accepting his acceptance by the Senate and People he had saved and preserved Rome through his military leadership,” (
RIC I, p.225). Despite the uncertainty and political turbulence of the times, the dies for the coinage of Galba maintain a remarkably high standard of workmanship and style, producing some of the best portraiture of the period