Victory Over Parthia

428, Lot: 375. Estimate $1000. Sold for $1200. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Lucius Verus. AD 161-169. Æ Sestertius (33mm, 32.04 g, 5h). Rome mint. Struck AD 166. L VERVS ΛVG ΛRM PΛRTH MΛX, laureate bust right, slight drapery / TR POT VI IMP IIII COS II, Victory standing right, holding palm frond and fixing to palm tree shield inscribed VIC/ PAR in two lines. RIC III 1456 var. (bust type – Aurelius); MIR 18, 142-16/32; Banti 142. VF, brown patina. Rare with this bust type. Banti records only one example. Heavy flan.

Ex Classical Numismatic Group 49 (17 March 1999), lot 1629.

Rome continued to press the war against the Parthians, advancing into Syria, Mesopotamia, Parthia, and Media. The Parthian’s capital city, Ctesiphon, was left in ruins. This issue records the successful conclusion of the Parthian Wars.