Nero. A.D. 54-68. Æ as. 11.54 gm. 26 mm. Rome mint. Struck circa A.D. 66. His laureate head right; IMP NERO CAESAR AVG GERM / Victory flying left, holding shield inscribed SPQR; S C flanking. RIC I 351. Good Very Fine; choice portrait, bold and well struck; handsome dark green and brown patina; collector's number '32' written in ink on obverse, another collector's number 'H 32' in ink on lacquer on reverse.

This collection of early Roman Imperial bronze was formed by an American collector in the Midwest, buying coins in the 1950's from major London coin houses. He affixed collector 'H' numbers written in ink on lacquer on many of the coins. We have correspondence dated in 1950 and 1951 with Leonard Forrer at Spink & Son, Ltd. and William French at Glendining & Co. Ltd. in London, as well as Earle K. Stanton in Los Angeles, Paul S. Seitz in Pennsylvania, and Edward Gans, Numismatic Fine Arts in New York City.

Extravagant and vain, Nero was rumoured to have started the great fire that destroyed half of Rome in A.D. 64, fiddling while it burned. Four years later, deserted by the Praetorian Guard in Rome, he fled and committed suicide.