281, Lot: 326. Estimate $100. Sold for $110. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Antoninus Pius. As Caesar, AD 138. AR Denarius (17mm, 3.11 g, 6h). Rome mint. Bare head right / Pietas standing left, hand raised over altar at feet. RIC II 452a (Hadrian); RSC 1062. VF.

After the sudden death of Aelius Caesar on 1 January AD 138, Hadrian was left without a successor. T. Aurelius Fulvus Boionius Antoninus, an individual from a distinguished family and with a competent, if not particularly noteworthy career, became Hadrian's new heir. Before Hadrian's own death seven months later, Antoninus was virtual emperor; thus, the transition of government easily passed into his reign.