Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Keystone Auction 6 11 Mar 2022
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Nero. AD 54-68. AR Denarius (17mm, 3.21 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck circa AD 65-66. NERO CAESAR AVGVSTVS, laureate head right / SALVS in exergue, Salus, draped, seated left on ornamented throne, holding patera in right hand and resting left at side. RIC I 60; RSC 314; BMCRE 90-3; BN 228. Near EF, lightly toned, minor porosity, trace deposits, small edge flaw. Superb portrait.
From the Ken Bressett Collection. Purchased from David Vagi in 2005 for @ $450.
The symbolism of this reverse type is twofold: to commemorate the building of a temple to Salus, and to call for the continued protection of Nero following the disastrous Pisonian Conspiracy. Events of the years AD 64-65 defined the subsequent reputation of Nero as a cruel and self-indulgent ruler. In AD 64, a large section of central Rome burned; Nero's reputed singing of the destruction of Troy during the fire led to the later association of him "fiddling" as the city burned. Within the charred remains of the city's center, Nero constructed the Domus Aurea, or Golden House, so named because of the gilded tiles on its exterior. Nero's "excesses" resulted in a conspiracy to overthrow and replace him with Gaius Calpurnius Piso.
From the Ken Bressett Collection. Purchased from David Vagi in 2005 for @ $450.
The symbolism of this reverse type is twofold: to commemorate the building of a temple to Salus, and to call for the continued protection of Nero following the disastrous Pisonian Conspiracy. Events of the years AD 64-65 defined the subsequent reputation of Nero as a cruel and self-indulgent ruler. In AD 64, a large section of central Rome burned; Nero's reputed singing of the destruction of Troy during the fire led to the later association of him "fiddling" as the city burned. Within the charred remains of the city's center, Nero constructed the Domus Aurea, or Golden House, so named because of the gilded tiles on its exterior. Nero's "excesses" resulted in a conspiracy to overthrow and replace him with Gaius Calpurnius Piso.