426, Lot: 479. Estimate $500. Sold for $950. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Gaius (Caligula). AD 37-41. Æ Sestertius (35.3mm, 26.87 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 37-38. Laureate head left / ADLOCVT above, COH in exergue, Gaius, bareheaded and togate, standing left on daïs, addressing five soldiers standing right; sella castrensis to right. RIC I 32. Near VF, dark brown and green surfaces, roughness.

From the Collection of a Texas Wine Doctor. Ex Cornelius C. Vermeule III Collection (Classical Numismatic Group Auction 50, 23 June 1999), lot 32; Leopold G. P. Messenger Collection (Glendining’s, 21 November 1951), lot 247 (part of).

Before a battle or on parade, the emperor would address his troops in an event known as an adlocutio cohortium (address to the cohorts). This was an important opportunity for the emperor to be present among his troops to inspire morale. This sestertius was issued on the occasion of a donative for the Praetorian Guard and was the first to employ the adlocutio as a reverse type.