Sale: Triton VII, Lot: 955. Estimate $7500.  Closing Date: Monday, 12 January 2004.  Sold For $7500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

HADRIAN. 117-138 AD. Æ Sestertius (26.54 gm). Struck circa 134-138 AD. HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P, laureate and draped bust right, seen from behind / Anepigraphic, S C in exergue, Nilus reclining right on sphinx, holding reed and cornucopiae; reeds behind, crocodile swimming below; child standing behind, second child climbing on cornucopiae, third child standing in front, holding serpent, fourth riding hippopotamus. RIC II 781; Strack 738z; Banti 727; BMCRE 1773; Cohen 1377. Superb EF, dark green patina, well struck in high relief. ($7500)

The reverse of this sestertius may take its inspiration from a famous and now-lost sculpture group which, according to Pliny the Elder (Natrual History 34.7.58), the emperor Vespasian installed in the Temple of Pax, located in his new Forum. A later copy of the group was discovered near the Temple of Isis in 1513 and now resides in the Vatican Museum.