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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;AncientJoe, post: 1815717, member: 44357&quot;]I&#039;m very grateful to be the latest caretaker of a great rarity in numismatics: a Flavian Amphitheatre/Colosseum sestertius. I acquired this piece at a considerable discount to my planned bid, despite several bidders on the floor/phone/online working against me. It&#039;s difficult to price a coin like this where each example is considerably different to others - I think the price heavily depends on who happens to be sitting in the room or who is aware of the auction.</p><p><br /></p><p>This particular type is understood to have been minted to commemorate the first ever games at the Colosseum and was handed out by the emperor Titus to the first spectators. As one of only six examples of this earliest die available to private collectors (with the remaining handful of pieces permanently in museums), this coin was a very unique opportunity for myself. There are no other surviving contemporary depictions of the Colosseum in any other medium as it stood when first built. Despite being excessively rare, it is listed in most books about the Colosseum/Rome/gladiators. The obverse die continued to be used after the death of Titus but the legends were changed - the later coins are more common than this original type but don&#039;t carry the historic weight I was looking for.</p><p><br /></p><p>Shown on the left is the huge, conical fountain named the Meta Sudans and on the right, the famous Baths of Titus. You can see tiers of spectators within and a central arch which represents the Imperial Box, all shown from a bird&#039;s-eye view, with small statues in each of the outer-facing arches. The reverse is of Titus on a curule chair, sitting on top of the globe, bringing peace with an olive branch by being victorious over their enemies (shown as captured arms). The Colosseum side is rendered in quite high relief. My pictures aren&#039;t perfect but it is simply stunning how the engraver was able to depict the massive structure.</p><p><br /></p><p>Enjoy!</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://imageshack.us/a/img33/7130/ncaq.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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