The Roman Empire
In the name of Agrippina Senior, mother of Gaius
Sestertius circa 37-41, Æ 28.38 g. AGRIPPINA·M·F·MAT·C·CAESARIS·AVGVSTI Draped bust r., hair falling in long plait at the back. Rev. S·P·Q·R / MEMORIAE / AGRIPPINAE Carpentum drawn l. by two mules; the cover supported by standing figures at the corners with ornamented side. C 1. BMC Gaius 85. RIC Gaius 55. CBN Gaius 128.
Very rare. A very elegant portrait struck in high relief and a finely detailed
reverse composition. Dark brown patina and extremely fine Ex NAC 23, 2002, 1485 and NAC 78, 2014, 838 sales.

Of the two Agrippina types, this is the much more interesting reverse. A very clean coin with excellent detail. MSG.

Agrippina Senior was among the most deserving, yet least fortunate of the Julio-Claudian women. After her marriage in A.D. 5 to Augustus' preferred heir, Germanicus, she was poised to achieve a status on par with the empress Livia. However, with the death of Augustus and the accession of Tiberius, power within the dynasty shifted decisively from the Julians to the Claudians. Even though Agrippina's marriage offered a union of the two bloodlines, her prospects did not survive under Tiberius. When Germanicus died at Antioch late in A.D. 19 under suspicious circumstances, Agrippina devoted herself to opposing Tiberius and his prefect Sejanus. Finally, in 29, Tiberius deprived her of freedom, and in 33 she died in exile. Three issues of sestertii were struck for Agrippina Senior, all posthumously. The first, produced by her son Caligula, shows on its reverse a carpentum; the second, issued by her brother Claudius, has on its reverse a large SC surrounded by a Claudian inscription; the third is a restoration of the Claudian type by the emperor Titus (79-81), whose inscriptions are substituted for those of Claudius. The obvese inscription on Caligula's issue, AGRIPPINA M F MAT C CAESARIS AVGVSTI, describes Agrippina as the daughter of Marcus (Agrippa) and the mother of Gaius (Caligula). Claudius' inscription also identifies her as Agrippa's daughter, but ends GERMANICI CAESARIS, thus shifting the focus from her being the mother of Caligula to being the widow of Claudius' deceased brother Germanicus. Distinctions in the portraits follow the same lines as the inscriptions: on the issue of Caligula, Agrippina has a slender profile like that of her son, whereas on Claudius' her face is broader and fuller, in keeping with his appearance.