Heritage World Coin Auctions
ANA Signature Sale 3066 17 Aug 2018
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Nero (AD 54-68). AV aureus (18mm, 7.63 gm, 3h). NGC AU ★ 5/5 - 4/5. Rome, December AD 62-December AD 63. NERO • CAESAR • AVG • IMP, bare head of Nero right / PONTIF MAX-TR P VIIII COS IIII P P, Roma, helmeted, in military dress, standing right, left foot on helmet near pile of arms, inscribing round shield set on knee; EX-SC across fields. RIC I 38. BMCRE 43. Cohen 230. Calicó 436. High-relief, somewhat jovial looking portrait, subdued lustrous surfaces with hints of red-orange toning.
Nero's name has become synonymous with decadent, depraved tyranny. It is surprising, then, that the first five years of his reign were looked upon as a golden age of wise, moderate government. Nero began life in AD 37 as the doted-upon son of Agrippina Junior, sister of the emperor Caligula, by her first husband, the senator Cn. Domitius Ahenobarbus. His childhood and adolescence advanced amid a backdrop of scandals, coups, plots and executions endemic to the Imperial family. In AD 49, Agrippina married her uncle, the emperor Claudius, and she immediately began pushing Nero to the fore in the succession. Having made the necessary arrangements, Agippina poisoned Claudius and Nero duly became emperor at the tender age of 17. At first true power resided in his mother's hands, but within a few months, Nero's able advisors, the philosopher Seneca and the praetorian prefect Burrus, had pushed Agrippina aside and seized the reigns of government. They proved excellent rulers, allowing the Senate a large consulting role, keeping finances in check and managing provincial affairs with restraint.
HID02901242017
Estimate: 14000-17500 USD
Nero (AD 54-68). AV aureus (18mm, 7.63 gm, 3h). NGC AU ★ 5/5 - 4/5. Rome, December AD 62-December AD 63. NERO • CAESAR • AVG • IMP, bare head of Nero right / PONTIF MAX-TR P VIIII COS IIII P P, Roma, helmeted, in military dress, standing right, left foot on helmet near pile of arms, inscribing round shield set on knee; EX-SC across fields. RIC I 38. BMCRE 43. Cohen 230. Calicó 436. High-relief, somewhat jovial looking portrait, subdued lustrous surfaces with hints of red-orange toning.
Nero's name has become synonymous with decadent, depraved tyranny. It is surprising, then, that the first five years of his reign were looked upon as a golden age of wise, moderate government. Nero began life in AD 37 as the doted-upon son of Agrippina Junior, sister of the emperor Caligula, by her first husband, the senator Cn. Domitius Ahenobarbus. His childhood and adolescence advanced amid a backdrop of scandals, coups, plots and executions endemic to the Imperial family. In AD 49, Agrippina married her uncle, the emperor Claudius, and she immediately began pushing Nero to the fore in the succession. Having made the necessary arrangements, Agippina poisoned Claudius and Nero duly became emperor at the tender age of 17. At first true power resided in his mother's hands, but within a few months, Nero's able advisors, the philosopher Seneca and the praetorian prefect Burrus, had pushed Agrippina aside and seized the reigns of government. They proved excellent rulers, allowing the Senate a large consulting role, keeping finances in check and managing provincial affairs with restraint.
HID02901242017
Estimate: 14000-17500 USD