Legio X Fretensis

437, Lot: 261. Estimate $150. Sold for $650. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

JUDAEA, Sebaste (or Jerusalem?). Legio X Fretensis. Æ (20mm, 9.55 g, 12h). Countermarks applied during the reign of Domitian, AD 84/5-96. LXF in rectangular countermark on a bronze of Domitian from Sebaste. Howgego 733i; Barag Group III. Host VF, c/m VF, brown patina.

From the Richard Baker Collection, purchased from Spink. Ex Sternberg XVII (9 May 1986), lot 234.

The Legio X Fretensis applied a number of countermarks to circulating bronze coinage. Most appear on issues of Sebaste, where they were likely applied, though find spots suggest the possibility of application in Jerusalem. The marks appear in sequence and appear to have been added on several occasions between 84/5 and the Bar Kochba Revolt of 132-135. The present example bears only the earliest of the countermarks.