Gaius (Caligula). AD 37-41. Æ Sestertius (33.5mm, 22.64 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 37-38. VF.

CNG Feature Auction 130
Lot: 454. Estimated: $ 1 000

Roman Imperial, Bronze, Coin-in-Hand Video

Sold For $ 5 500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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Gaius (Caligula). AD 37-41. Æ Sestertius (33.5mm, 22.64 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 37-38. Laureate head left / Gaius' three sisters standing facing: Agrippina (as Securitas), head right, holding cornucopia and leaning on column, placing hand on shoulder of Drusilla (as Concordia), head left, holding patera and cornucopia; on right, Julia (as Fortuna), head left, holding rudder and cornucopia. RIC I 33. Brown surfaces, smoothing. VF.

On this popular and beautiful reverse, the three sisters of Gaius “Caligula”–Drusilla, Julia Livilla, and Agrippina the Younger–are honored and portrayed as goddesses. All three were deeply involved in deadly Julio-Claudian politics. Caligula’s hostile biographers depict him as excessively and unnaturally fond of his sisters, Drusilla in particular, whom he named as his primary heir in AD 37, while he was suffering from a near-fatal illness. Drusilla herself died of a virulent plague in AD 38 at the age of 22, plunging Caligula into violent grief. He gave her a state funeral befitting an Augusta and ordered the Senate to deify her. In his depression, Caligula’s affections for his remaining sisters cooled and they took to plotting against him, for which he ultimately banished them to the Pontian Islands. After Caligula’s assassination in AD 41, the new emperor, his uncle Claudius, rescinded his nieces’ exile. Julia Livilla soon fell afoul of Claudius’ wife Messalina, who had her imprisoned and starved to death in AD 42. Messalina herself overreached and was executed in AD 48. The following year, Claudius married his surviving niece Agrippina and she quickly became the most powerful woman the Roman Empire had yet seen.

The final winners of all CNG Feature Auction 130 lots will be determined during the live online sale that will be held on 23-24 September 2025. This lot is in Session Two, which will begin 23 September at 2 PM ET.

Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.

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