171, Lot: 84. Estimate $150. Sold for $300. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

C. Augurinus. 135 BC. AR Denarius (18mm, 3.80 g). Helmeted head of Roma right / Ionic column surmounted by statue, decorated with forepart of lions and grain ears on either side at the base and two bells at top; flanked by two togate figures. Fuchs, Architekturdarstellungen 1-2; Crawford 242/1; Sydenham 463; Minucia 3. Good VF, toned.

From the Karl Sifferman Collection.

The Columna Minucia is the first architectural representation on a Roman coin. The monument was erected in honor of the praefect L. Minucius Augurinus, who in 439 BC averted a famine by placing price controls on grain coming into the city. The two figures flanking the column are probably either P. or M. Minucius, consuls in 492 and 491 BC, and M. Minucius Faesus, one of the first plebian augurs in 300 BC. In later years a grain market, the Porticus Minucia grew up around the monument.