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  1. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
  2. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  

    Probably countermarked in Britain

    E35, Lot 50:

    Claudius. A.D. 41-54. Æ sestertius. 27.17 gm. 35 mm. Rome mint. Struck A.D. 42-43. Countermark PROB within rectangular incuse, most likely applied at a military center in Britain (see note below). His laureate head right; TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR P IMP; PROB(atvm) in rectangular countermark / Spes (Hope) advancing left, holding flower and raising hem of skirt; SPES AVGVSTA S C. RIC I 115. For c/m Pangeri 23. Spink 470C (Coins of England and the United Kingdom, listed under Roman Britain (750 pounds in VF). Host coin Very Fine, well centered and well struck on a large flan; bold portrait and clear legends; green patina. Countermark carefully positioned in field before the imperial portrait and sharply struck, creating slight bend in flan. Historic and Extremely rare.

    This piece came to us from an American collection compiled in the 1930's, collector envelope included.

    The emperor Claudius in A.D. 43 led the invasion of Britain, beginning the Roman occupation of the island that lasted until the fifth century. R. F. Kenyon, in his article "The Countermark PROB on coins of Claudius I from Britain" printed in The Numismatic Chronicle, Vol. 148 (London: The Royal Numismatic Society, 1988), citing research by D. W. MacDowall and his own extensive study, concludes that most probably sestertii of Claudius such as this example were sent to Britain from the mint of Rome and countermarked PROB at a military center in Britain. The countermarks were always carefully struck, always in the right obverse field and never overlapping the imperial portrait.

  3. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    Very Rare
    E43, Lot 61:

    Claudius. A.D. 41-54. AR fourrée denarius. 19 mm. British imitation of Rome Mint. A.D. 49-50. His laureate head right; TI CLAVD CAESAR AVG P M TR P VII IMP P P / S P Q R / P • P / OB C S in three lines within oak wreath. Cf. RIC I 49. North Suffolk (Coin Hoards from Roman Britain, Volume X) 77. In NGC encapsulation graded Choice AU Strike 4/5, Surface 3/5; nicely toned; surface almost entirely intact; reverse struck off center. Photographed through plastic. (The dark areas at 2' obverse and 10' reverse are simply shadows cast by the slab.) A choice and beautiful example of an ancient fourrée, and an important numismatic find from Roman Britain. Claudius is an important and extremely difficult emperor to represent in any form. Choice portrait. Very Rare.

    Ex Davissons Auction 37 (21 February 2018) lot 46 ($1200).

    This silver-plated denarius was probably struck at an unofficial mint in Britannia following the invasion of Claudius in A.D. 43, to fill the need of thousands of Roman soldiers for coinage. Though not officially sanctioned, the practice was probably tolerated. In 1996 a hoard of 110 plated denarii of this type was found in Waveny, Suffolk. Price histories: a similar piece with the same NGC slab grade but estimated at $4,000-UP was offered by Goldbergs on June 6, 2017 (Auction 98:2232) and in The New York Sale (XLII:440) on January 9, 2018, estimated at $2,500. A piece from the Wortham Hoard found in Suffolk in the 1990s was sold in the Harlan J. Berk, Ltd. BBS 193 (30 April 2015) for $5,500; and another from the Waveny Hoard was sold in CNG E-Auction 318 (15 January 2014) for $1400. Another similar piece was sold in Numismatica Ars Classica 72 (16 May 2013) for $1772.

  4. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    E37, Lot 63:

    Galba. A.D. 68-69. Æ sestertius. 25.82 gm. 35 mm. Rome mint. Struck autumn A.D. 68. His laureate and draped bust right; IMP SER GALBA CAES AVG TR P / Victory advancing left, holding palladium and palm; S C. RIC I 352 (S). Good Fine; bold portrait, well centered; dark green and red patina; some barely distinguishable light tooling along front of bust on obverse, and along front of Victory on reverse; two spots of old corrosion on reverse at 12' and 6'; collectors number '54' written in ink on obverse, second collectors number 'H 33' written in ink on lacquer on edge. Scarce.

    This collection of early Roman Imperial bronze was formed by an American collector in the Midwest, buying coins in the 1950's from major London coin houses. He affixed collector 'H' numbers written in ink on lacquer on many of the coins. We have correspondence dated in 1950 and 1951 with Leonard Forrer at Spink & Son, Ltd. and William French at Glendining & Co. Ltd. in London, as well as Earle K. Stanton in Los Angeles, Paul S. Seitz in Pennsylvania, and Edward Gans, Numismatic Fine Arts in New York City.

    Galba was a brilliant administrator but David Sear writes "his strict discipline and rigid economy made him unpopular with the army" and he was assassinated in the Forum in A.D. 69. This interesting and scarce reverse type suggests that Victory had the power to bestow control over Rome (the Palladium).

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