Heritage held a World Coins Showcase Auction on 14 November. Dating from c.248–230 BC, the auction included a silver didrachm – an example of the first silver coin of Rome (lot 22088). These coins first appeared during the wars against Pyrrhus and disappeared during the Punic Wars because of the shortage of silver. Minted in Rome, the didrachm were struck on the Campanian standard and the didrachms of Naples. On the obverse, there was a youthful head of Mars, facing to the right, wearing a crested Corinthian helmet pushed back on his head, while a vertical club was shown behind the portrait. The reverse had the inscription ‘ROMA’ below a free horse rearing to the right on a short ground line, with a club above. The coin, expertly centred on blue-violet surfaces, made $17,500.
SOLD FOR £13,863
A gold aureus from the rein of Trajan (AD 98–117) was one of the highlights from the Savoca auction of 29 October (lot 189). The obverse featured a laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of the emperor facing right, with the inscription ‘IMP TRAIANVS AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI P P’. On the reverse, the coin had a view of the façade of Trajan’s Forum in Rome. While its remains are a prominent archaeological site today, the original Forum, containing Trajan’s Column, the Basilica Ulpia,
