Marcus Aurelius, 161-180. Sestertius (Bronze, 30 mm, 24.89 g, 12 h), Rome, 172-173. M ANTONINVS AVG TR P XXVII Laureate head of Marcus Aurelius to right.
Rev. RESTITVTORI ITALIAE IMP VI COS III / SC Marcus Aurelius, in military attire, standing front, head to right, holding long scepter in his left hand and raising up Italia, who holds globe in her left hand and kneels to left before him. BMC 1449. Cohen 538. RIC 1077. Some areas of weakness and with light corrosion spots
, otherwise, very fine.
From an old Swiss collection (inv. no. 40.538) and reportedly from the collection of Apostolo Zeno (1668-1750), probably Part I, Dorotheum, 13-16 June 1955, 1157 (sadly not illustrated).
This coin belonged to the collection of Apostolo Zeno (1668–1750), the renowned Venetian scholar, poet, and librettist. Zeno’s extraordinary coin collection was auctioned in Vienna in three parts in 1955-1957. Apostolo Zeno, a scion of an old Venetian noble family, pursued an early career as a poet while also dedicating himself to history, philology, and numismatics. He co-founded the Accademia degli Animosi (1691) and the Giornale de’ letterati d’Italia (1710), Italy’s first critical literary journal. In 1718, he moved to the court of Charles VI in Vienna, where he served as court poet and historian while also managing the imperial coin collection. Upon returning to Venice in 1729, he continued to study and expand his personal coin collection until his death in 1750.
