Provenance : probably Boscoreale Hoard.

In 1895, excavators working on a Roman villa near the buried city of Pompeii unearthed an amazing treasure trove that included silver table vessels of incredible beauty and more than 1,000 gold aurei. 

The intense heat from the volcanic ash, lava and pyroclastic flows from the eruption of Vesuvius left nearly all of the gold coins with a distinctive reddish purple discoloration which has come to be known as “Boscoreale toning“ 

Unfortunately, no formal study of the Boscoreale coins was made before they were dispersed into the market.

Obverse : Veiled female head. Reverse : Emblems of the augurate and pontificate: lituus, capis, and securis.