1087060 | ROMAN IMPERIAL. Agrippina Senior. (Mother of Caligula, d. 33 AD). Struck 33 AD. AE Sestertius. NGC Ch. XF (Choice Extremely Fine) Strike 5/5 Surface 3/5. Rome. 29.11gm. Draped bust, right / S.P.Q.R./ MEMORIAE/ AGRIPPINAE. Ornamented carpentum drawn left by two mules. BMC 85; Cohen 1; RIC 2, 55 (Caligula).

Posthumous commemorative issue struck under Caligula.


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"Agrippina Sr. [...] was the wife of Germanicus and the mother of Caligula, spent the latter part of her life embroiled in Roman politics, fighting against Tiberius until she was exiled and starved herself to death in A.D. 33. Upon his accession in A.D. 37, Caligula returned his mother’s ashes to Rome and issued a sestertius (bearing a carpentum) in commemoration of her life. Interestingly, when this emperor also held games in honor of his late mother, Agrippina’s carpentum was included in the procession. In this situation, the ornamented cart seems to be associated with death and remembrance rather than recovery from illness, as had been the case with Livia." [See NGC News, "The Cart Before the Mule: Carpenta on Roman Coinage" 8/16/2011, ngccoin.com].