Eastern Roman Empire (404-416) solidus RIC X 1252
This specimen was lot 29257 in Heritage sale 3035 (Long Beach, September 2014), where it sold for $3,055. The catalog description[1] noted,
"Mint State Honorius, Western Roman Emperor (AD 393-423). AV solidus (20mm, 4.49 gm, 12h). Rome, ca. AD 404-416. D N HONRI-VS P F AVG, diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right / VICTORI-A AVGGG, Honorius standing right, with foot on bound captive to right, holding labarum and crowning Victory on globe; R-M//COMOB. RIC X 1252. Depeyrot 34/2. NGC MS? 5/5 - 4/5. From The Lexington Collection of Jonathan K. Kern.
Flavius Honorius presided over the disintegration of the Western Roman Empire, and thus holds a place in history that his stature hardly merits. For 30 years he reigned like the static figurehead of a foundering ship, doing little of note as waves of invaders rolled over the undefended frontiers and engulfed unprotected cities. This gold solidus, struck at Rome, depicts Honorius spurning a cringing barbarian, an image that must have seemed laughable to all but the most uninformed of the day. Ironically, tens of thousands of gold solidi like this were paid to the Visigoth Alaric in a vain attempt to keep him from besieging and plundering Rome."
- [1]Michaels, David, Cristiano Bierrenbach and Sam Spiegel, Heritage Signature Auction 3035: Ancient Coins, Featuring the Lexington Collection of Jonathan K. Kern and the Andre Constantine Dimitriadis Collection, Dallas: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2014.
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