Lot 152
Rome. Romulus Augustus, 475-476 AD. Gold Solidus (4.47 g), Rome mint. Diademed, helmeted bust three-quarters frontal and holding spear, with elaborate cuirass, and shield decorated with rider over fallen enemy; D N ROMVLVS A - VGVSTVS P F AVG. Reverse: Victory standing left, holding long jeweled cross; VICTORI - A AVGGG:, COIIOB below; R M in field. RIC 3404; Lacam 9; C. 3. Nicely centered and solidly struck, with a few trivial dirt encrustations remaining. Extremely rare. Certainly among the finest known. NGC graded About Uncirculated.
The last emperor of the West. While one of his names, "Augustulus," recollects the first real emperor of Rome, it is a fitting close, five hundred years later, to this long chapter of Western Civilization. Are we today suffering the same pitfalls that beset Rome; are we learning from these testaments and the times which produced them?
Estimated Value $40,000 - 45,000.
Illustrated in Money of the World, coin 57.
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| Realized $178,250 |
