172, Lot: 240. Estimate $150. Sold for $245. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Commodus. AD 177-192. Æ Sestertius (30mm, 24.91 g). Rome mint. Struck AD 186-189. Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind; [P]D below bust / SPQR/LAETITIAE/C V legend in three lines in laurel wreath. RIC III 551 var. (laureate head); BMCRE 610 var. (same); Cohen 713 var. (same); Banti 387 var. (same). VF, red and brown patina, smoothed with some tooling. Apparently unrecorded with this bust type.

From The John A. Seeger Collection.

The Laetitia issue is part of a extensive striking of types that probably relates to a close brush with death by Commodus. In 185 the province of Gaul was convulsed by an outbreak of lawlessness spearheaded by Maternus and a gang of brigands and deserters. The revolt was suppressed by the governor, Pescennius Niger (the later usurper), but Maternus escaped and conceived of a desperate plan to strike at the heart of the empire, by killing Commodus at the feast of Hilaria on 25 March 187. Maternus was betrayed by his fellow plotters, captured and promptly executed. Coins and medals featuring Hilaritas, Laetitia and Salus were struck to mark the emperor’s escape. The PD under the bust probably stands for Primi Decennales, the tenth year of Commodus’ sole reign.