Claudius I AE Sestertius, Rome, AD 41-50, EX SC OB CIVES SERVATOS, RIC I 96

Claudius, Sestertius, bronze; reign AD 41–54, struck AD 41–50, Rome; 27.50 g, 36 mm. Laureate bust right with legend TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR P IMP. Reverse legend EX S C OB CIVES SERVATOS in four lines within an oak-wreath (corona civica) tied below. Struck on a broad flan; die axis 6h. RIC I (second edition) 96.

This type proclaims the senatorial award of the civic crown to Claudius “for having saved citizens,” a formula first popularized under Augustus. The EX S C legend records the Senate’s authority over the bronze series and served to advertise Claudius’s legitimacy and protective role toward the citizen body after his accession in AD 41, when the Praetorian Guard elevated him and the Senate subsequently recognized his rule.