ROMAN. Magnia Urbica. Augusta, A.D. 283-285. Antoninianus (4.38g). Lugdunum (Lyon) mint, 4th officina. 9th emission of Carinus, A.D. 284. Draped bust right, wearing stephane, set on crescent / Venus Genetrix standing left, holding apple and sceptre; D to left. RIC V 337; Pink VI/2, p. 24; Lyon 617. Brown patina, with minor porosity and traces of silvering. A splendid, very sharply struck piece with original silvering and an excellent portrait. aEF. This antoninianus was struck for the little-known empress Magnia Urbica at Lugdunum in A.D. 284, right at the end of Carinus' troubled reign. Her portrait with stephane on a crescent shows her formally proclaimed Augusta, while Venus Genetrix on the reverse quietly promises continuity and protection for a regime that was about to disappear with the rise of Diocletian. From the Titan Collection. Acquired from Numismatic Fine Arts, dated 1/9/1988.

Estimate: AUD 1000