RPC I 2221 Claudius SOLD

Ruler: Claudius, 41-54 CE

Denomination: Cistophorus

Obverse:  TI CLAVD CAES·AVG, bare head of Claudius, left

Reverse:  ROM[a] ET AVG[vstvs], COM[mvnitas] ASI[ae] (in field); temple of Dea Roma and Divus Avgvstvs with two columns enclosing figure of Augustus crowned by female figure holding cornucopia

Reference: RPC I 2221

Mint:  Ephesus

Provenance:  ex dr Victor Vishnevsky collection = ex Kreß, Auktion 159, 1974, Lot 724

Note: beautiful old cabinet tone from a very old collection and great old provenance! 

The first Roman emperor to have been born outside Rome, Claudius was the youngest of the three surviving children of Drusus and Antonia Minor. While still very young, Claudius became disabled after suffering an illness, which caused his family (especially his mother) to disdain him. He was not permitted in the public eye, and unlike other sons of the imperial household, he was kept out of politics. It was this same disability, however, that probably saved him from the intrigues at court that proved fatal to so many of his relatives during the reigns of Tiberius and Caligula; by the time he was elevated to the throne by the Praetorian Guard after Caligula's assassination, he was the last surviving male of his family. Despite having little experience in politics, Claudius had a keen and scholarly intellect, and soon proved himself an able administrator. He respected the senate and declined many honours traditionally bestowed on an emperor, preferring to earn them instead, and he initiated extensive public works that were necessary and beneficial. Despite his effectiveness as ruler, however, it seems Claudius possibly fell victim to the intrigues of his fourth wife, Agrippina the Younger: wanting her own son, Nero, to succeed her husband on the throne, she fed Claudius a dose of poisonous mushrooms. Or so the story goes. Seneca said that Claudius died of natural causes, and as he was already 64 at the time of his death and an alcoholic, it may be that he simply succumbed to infirmity and old age.

The cistophorus was minted under Claudius for the first time since the great coinage of this denomination by Augustus some 60 years before. The Claudian two brief issues were nowhere near as extensive and the pieces that are seen usually show significant wear indicating that they circulated heavily. Nevertheless it is believed that the issues under Claudius likely have been commemorative in nature, and not intended for general circulation.

The present type, from the first issue, probably depicts the temple of dead Roma and divus Augustus at Pergamum, to which mint this type is sometimes attributed. The authors of RPC note however that the numerous die links between this issue and that depicting the temple of Diana at Ephesus indicate that despite the reverse types, the coins were all produced at a single mint - probably Ephesus, since that is where the second Claudian issue appears to have been made.

There are four main types of the cistophorus issues of Claudius: those including Agrippina (his wife); the issues dedicated to Artemis (Diana) and her temple, as above; the issues with ROM ET AVG temple reverses; and, late in his reign, the issues identifying Nero as his successor.

Price: 5500 PLN

Collezione : 14 Roman Cistophori