Sale: CNG 67, Lot: 1526. Estimate $200.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 22 September 2004.  Sold For $240. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ANTONINUS PIUS. 138-161 AD. Æ As (9.43 gm). Struck 143-144 AD. Laureate head right / IMPERATOR II above, ANCILIA below, two oval shields with scalloped projections above and below. RIC III 736a; BMCRE 1629; Cohen 30. VF, black-green patina, a couple small pits on obverse. ($200)

From the Michael Weller Collection.

The ancilia were the sacred shields of Mars and were associated with the Salii, that god's college of priests whose cermonies signalled the beginning and ending of a military campaign season. Founded by Rome's second king, Numa Pompilius, the Salii were so-called because one aspect of their ritual involved leaping (salire). Beginning in March they would process throughout the city with the ancilia; at the end of the month, these shields would be cleansed and stored away. In October, the same process would again occur to end the season.