Sale: CNG 63, Lot: 1380. Estimate $200.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 21 May 2003.  Sold For $175. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

LUCIUS VERUS. 161-169 AD. Æ As (9.74 gm). Struck December 168-January 169 AD. Laureate head right / Abundantia, or Annona, standing left, holding roll over full modius on ship's prow, and oar. RIC III 1489; MIR 18, 174-9/30; Cohen 326. VF, green and red-brown patina. Rare issue for Verus. ($200)

As Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus were returning in January 169 from the war against the Parthians, Verus suddenly became ill near the Italian town of Altinum (Altino). He was taken from his carriage and bled, but his illness progressed so rapidly that he could not speak, and he died three days later at the age of 38. Rumors arose that his rapid death was the result of a plot by his mother-in-law, Faustina, with whom he was supposed to have had an incestuous relationship. Suspicion also focused on Marcus, although this is completely out of character for him. More than likely, Verus was one of the early victims of a plague that was soon to spread throughout the empire. Coins bearing his ninth tribunician year are rare, all being struck for only about a month.