Lot 83
Claudius, 41-54. As (Copper, 24 mm, 10.70 g, 6 h), Rome, 50-54. TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR P IMP P P Bare head of Claudius to left. Rev. LIBERTAS AVGVSTA / S C Libertas standing facing, her head turned to right, holding pileus in her right hand and extending her left. BMC 204. BM 230. Cohen 47. RIC 113. von Kaenel 77. Lovely brown patina. One of the best known examples of this type. An impressive coin. Good extremely fine.
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica 86, 8 October 2015, 116 & Numismatica Ars Classica 21, 2001, 383.
The portrait on this coin is quite truly extraordinary in its veristic brutality. It shows Claudius without any of the usual Julio-Claudian idealization and handsomeness; rather it gives us the image of the rough, not all together elegant individual as he was described in the ancient sources.
