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Home ▸ Catalog ▸ |Roman Coins| ▸ |The Twelve Caesars| ▸ |Nero||View Options:   | | | Nero became emperor after his stepfather, the emperor Claudius, died (Claudius was probably poisoned by Nero's mother Agrippina II). At first, Nero ruled well, guided by his mentors Seneca and Burrus, but soon his reign degenerated into the debauchery and murder for which he is infamous. He had his mother, Burrus, Britannicus, and numerous senators and members of the nobility murdered or executed. Legend says he kicked Poppaea, his pregnant wife, to death. He was the first emperor to persecute Christians, blaming them for the Great Fire in 64 A.D. Nero committed suicide in 68 A.D. after generals in Africa, Gaul, and Spain all rebelled, and the Praetorian Guard in Rome deserted him. |
In 60 A.D., Queen Boudica led a rebellion of the Iceni against Roman rule in alliance with the Trinovantes, Cornovii, Durotriges and Celtic Britons. The Iceni and Trinovantes first destroyed the Roman capital Camulodunum (Colchester), wiped out the infantry of the Legio IX Hispana (commanded by Quintus Petillius Cerialis) and went on to burn Londinium (London) (probably destroying London Bridge) and Verulamium (St Albans), in all cases massacring the inhabitants by the thousands.RY114876. Silver tetradrachm, RPC Online I 4181; McAlee 257; Prieur 81; Wruck 38; BMC Galatia , p. 174, 190, VF, nice portrait, well centered on a tight flan, weight 14.596 g, maximum diameter 24.9 mm, die axis 0o, Antioch (Antakya, Turkey) mint, 60 - 61 A.D.; obverse NEPΩNOΣ KAIΣAPOΣ ΣEBAΣTOY (Nero Caesar Augustus), laureate beardless bust right wearing aegis; reverse eagle standing on a thunderbolt, wings spread, palm frond left, Z (retrograde) / ΘP right (regnal year 7 & year 109 of the Caesarian era); $250.00 (€235.00)
Nero, 13 October 54 - 9 June 68 A.D., Antioch, Seleucis and Pieria, Syria
The Sela Neron (Nero Tetradrachm) is mentioned in the Mishna Keilim 17:12.RP114877. Silver tetradrachm, RPC Online I 4185; McAlee 261; Prieur 85; Wruck 42; BMC Galatia p. 175, 195, gF, excellent portrait, light marks, tight flan, weight 14.737 g, maximum diameter 25.3 mm, die axis 0o, Antioch (Antakya, Turkey) mint, 62 - 63 A.D.; obverse NEPΩN KAIΣAP ΣEBAΣTOΣ (Nero Caesar Augustus), laureate bust right wearing aegis; reverse ETOYΣ AIP • Θ (year 111 Caesarian era, regnal year 9), eagle standing right on thunderbolt, pellet and palm branch right; $250.00 (€235.00)
Nero, 13 October 54 - 9 June 68 A.D., Acmoneia, Phrygia
Acmoneia was located on a small tributary of the river Sindros, about six miles west of Diocleia. Struck by the archon (magistrate) L. Servinius Capito and his wife Julia Severa, in his first issue. It was unusual for a magistrate to name his wife on the coinage.RP114648. Brass hemiassarion, RPC Online I 3171; SNG Cop 27; BMC Phrygia p. 10, 39; SNGvA -, gF, dark patina, highlighting earthen deposits, deep scratch low obv., weight 4.473 g, maximum diameter 19.1 mm, Akmonia (Ahat Koyu, Turkey) mint, 1st issue, c. 55 A.D.; obverse AYTOKPATΩP NEPΩN KΛAYΔIOΣ KAIΣAP / ΣEBASTOΣ ΓEPMANIKO (clockwise, outer and inner legends), bare-headed, draped and cuirassed bust right; reverse EPI ΣEPOYHNIOY KAPITΩNOΣ KAI IOYΛIAΣ ΣEOYHPAΣ (time of [Loukios] Servenios Kapito [archon] and [his wife] Ioulia Severa), Zeus seated left, nude to the waist, himation around hips and legs, patera in right hand, long scepter vertical in his left hand, owl at his feet standing left with turned head facing, crescent upper left, AKMONEΩN counterclockwise inner right; $90.00 (€84.60)
Nero, 13 October 54 - 9 June 68 A.D., Amorium, Phrygia
Amorion in Phrygia was founded in the Hellenistic period. Early historical records that mention the city are strictly limited to a reference by Strabo. On the Byzantine military road from Constantinople to Cilicia, the city flourished under the Byzantine Empire. It declined after the Arab sack of 838, after which 42 Byzantine officers and notables of Amorium were taken as hostages to Samarra (in Iraq today). Refusing to convert to Islam, they were executed there in 845, and became canonized as the "42 Martyrs of Amorium." The city's ruins are located under and around the modern village of Hisarköy, 13 kilometers east of the district center, Emirdag, Afyonkarahisar Province, Turkey.MA114412. Bronze AE 19, RPC Online I 3241 (8 spec.); SNG Cop 122, cf. BMC Phrygia p. 52, 30 (eagle right), aF, green patina, porous, weight 5.935 g, maximum diameter 18.6 mm, die axis 0o, Amorion (Hisarkoy, Turkey) mint, c. 54 - 55 A.D.; obverse NEPΩNA KAIΣAPA AMOPIANOI, laureate head of Nero right; reverse EΠI ΛEYKIOY IOYΛIOY KATΩNOΩ TO B (by authority of Leukios Ioulios Kato [magistrate] for the 2nd time), eagle standing left on bovine shin and foot bones left, eagle's head left, wings closed; scarce; $13.50 (€12.69)
Judaea, Antonius Felix, Roman Procurator Under Claudius and Nero, 52 - 60 A.D.
The palm depicted is, of course, the date palm. The tree was a symbol of Judea where palm trees grow in greater numbers than the surrounding areas (the Romans also used it as a symbol of Judea on Judaea Capta coins). The palm also symbolized abundance and plenty, dignity, royal honor, jubilation and victory, and was used in religious processionsJD114537. Bronze prutah, Hendin 6377; Meshorer TJC 340; Sofaer 59; BMC Palestine p. 264, 21; RPC I 4971, F, dark green patina, highlighting earthen deposits, rev. edge beveled, flan partially squared by sprue cuts, weight 3.541 g, maximum diameter 18.2 mm, die axis 300o, Jerusalem mint, under Nero, 54 A.D.; obverse NEPW KΛAV KAICAP (Nero Claudius Caesar), two crossed oblong shields with two crossed spears on far side; reverse BPIT (Britannicus), six-branched palm bearing two bunches of dates, L - IΔ / K-AI (year 14 of Caesar) flanking trunk; $80.00 (€75.20)
Judaea, Antonius Felix, Roman Procurator Under Claudius and Nero, 52 - 60 A.D.
The palm depicted is, of course, the date palm. The tree was a symbol of Judea where palm trees grow in greater numbers than the surrounding areas (the Romans also used it as a symbol of Judea on Judaea Capta coins). The palm also symbolized abundance and plenty, dignity, royal honor, jubilation and victory, and was used in religious processionsJD114538. Bronze prutah, Hendin 6377; Meshorer TJC 340; Sofaer 59; BMC Palestine p. 264, 21; RPC I 4971, aVF, dark patina with highlighting earthen deposits, obv. slightly off center, rev. edge beveled, sprue cuts, small edge split, weight 2.223 g, maximum diameter 16.3 mm, die axis 0o, Jerusalem mint, under Nero, 54 A.D.; obverse NEPW KΛAV KAICAP (Nero Claudius Caesar), two crossed oblong shields with two crossed spears on far side; reverse BPIT (Britannicus), six-branched palm bearing two bunches of dates, L - IΔ / K-AI (year 14 of Caesar) flanking trunk; $120.00 (€112.80)
Nero, 13 October 54 - 9 June 68 A.D., Acmonea, Phrygia
Akmonia (Acmonea) was an important city of central Phrygia, located on a tributary of the river Senaros. Akmon was the founder of Akmonia, the first king of the region, and the father of Mygdon. His son Mygdon led a force of Phrygians against the Amazons, alongside Otreus (another Phrygian leader) and King Priam of Troy, one generation before the Trojan War. Priam mentions this to Helen of Troy in Book 3 of The Iliad.RP113890. Brass AE 21, RPC I 3174 (37 spec.); BMC Phrygia p. 10, 41-42; SNGvA 3371; McClean 8735; SNG Cop 28, aVF, well-centered strikes, good detail, pleasing earthen contrast, flan crack, weight 3.772 g, maximum diameter 20.7 mm, die axis 0o, Akmonia (Ahat Koyu, Turkey) mint, 2nd issue, c. 62 A.D.; obverse NEPΩN KAICAP CEBACTOC (counterclockwise from lower right), laureate bust of Nero right, winged caduceus behind, crescent to right; reverse CEPOYHNIOY KAΠITΩNOC KAI IOYΛIAC CEOYHPAC (of Servenius Capito and Iulias Severa, counterclockwise from lower right), Zeus seated left, nude to the waist, himation around hips and legs, patera in right hand, long scepter vertical in left hand, owl at feet before throne, AKMONEΩN upwards behind, EΠI monogram over APX monogram in upper left field; Lucius Servenius Capito and Iulia Severa, magistrates; $100.00 (€94.00)
Nero, 13 October 54 - 9 June 68 A.D., Caesarea, Cappadocia
Kayseri, Turkey was originally named Mazaca. It was renamed Eusebia by Ariarathes V Eusebes, King of Cappadocia, 163 - 130 B.C. The last king of Cappadocia, King Archelaus, renamed it "Caesarea in Cappadocia" to honor Caesar Augustus upon his death in 14 A.D. Muslim Arabs slightly modified the name into Kaisariyah, which became Kayseri when the Seljuk Turks took control, c. 1080 A.D.GP114564. Silver hemidrachm, Ganschow 60, RPC Online I 3646, RIC I 618, Sydenham Caesarea 83, SNG Cop 183, SNGvA 6359, SNG Tub 4617, aVF, toned, mild roughness, weight 1.792 g, maximum diameter 13.9 mm, die axis 0o, Cappadocia, Caesarea (Kayseri, Turkey) mint, c. 58 - 59 A.D.; obverse NERO CLAVD DIVI CLAVD F CAESAR AVG GERMANI, laureate head right; reverse Victory standing right, right foot on globe, inscribing shield resting on knee; ex CNG e-auction 541 (28 Jun 2023), lot 357; ex Baldwin & Sons (London); $125.00 (€117.50)
Nero, 13 October 54 - 9 June 68 A.D., Koinon of Galatia, Galatia
In 25 B.C., Augustus raised Ankara to the status of a polis and made it the capital city of the Roman province of Galatia. Ankara is famous for the Monumentum Ancyranum (Temple of Augustus and Rome) which contains the official record of the Acts of Augustus, known as the Res Gestae Divi Augusti, an inscription cut in marble on the walls of this temple. An estimated 200,000 people lived in Ancyra in good times during the Roman Empire, a far greater number than was to be the case from after the fall of the Roman Empire until the early 20th century.
Numismatic scholars have long speculated which city in Galatia was the minter of the Koinon of Galatia issues, with reasons to suggest Ancyra, Pessinus, and Tavium. In May 2023, a member of the FORVM Ancient Coins Discussion Board asked for help in identifying a Roman provincial of Galba with a temple reverse that he believed was a product of Tavium. Quite surprisingly, its actual origin was Ancyra and its strong resemblance to RPC I 3566, a Koinon of Galatia issue struck under Galba, was unmistakable. The Ancyra coin, still unpublished on RPC Online and the earliest attested Roman provincial issue of the city, also bore an owl countermark (Howgego 468). This mark was previously known only from the Koinon of Galatia coinages of Nero and Galba, thus adding even more evidence in favor of Ancyra as the Koinon minter/issuer.RP114405. Bronze AE 20, RPC Online 3563A (6 spec., otherwise apparently unpublished) , VF, green patina, smooth surfaces except for the occasional tiny pit, a handsome specimen, weight 4.577 g, maximum diameter 20.3 mm, die axis 0o, Ancyra (Ankara, Turkey) mint, 13 October 54 - 9 June 68 A.D.; obverse NEPΩNOΣ ΣEBAΣTOY, laureate head right; reverse ΣEBAΣTH, Nike striding left, wreath in extended right hand, palm frond in left hand; very rare; $200.00 (€188.00)
Nero, 13 October 54 - 9 June 68 A.D., Docimeium, Phrygia
Cybele was born a hermaphrodite, but castrated by the gods, she became female. Heeding the Sibylline oracle the senate brought her worship to Rome in 204 B.C. as the first officially sanctioned Eastern cult. After approval, they were dismayed to learn that the priesthood required voluntary self-castration, which was abhorrent to the Romans. Romans were barred from entering the priesthood or even entering the priest's sanctuary. The eunuch priests, recruited from outside Rome, were confined to their sanctuary, leaving only to parade in the streets during festivals in April. Claudius removed the bans on Roman participation, making worship of Cybele and her consort Attis part of the state religion.RP113887. Brass AE 18, RPC I 3213.3 (same c/m); BMC Phrygia p. 191, 18 (same); Waddington 5954 (same); Hunterian II 2 = SNG Hunt I 2042 (same); c/m: Howgego 224, VF, well-defined countermark, dark patina, open edge crack, weight 3.064 g, maximum diameter 18.1 mm, die axis 0o, Docimeium (Iscehisar, Turkey) mint, c. 55 A.D.(?); obverse NEPΩN KAIΣAP, bare-headed draped bust of young Nero right, countermark: bearded bust left in an oval punch; reverse Cybele standing facing, between two lions, both turned away from her, but looking back in anticipation, ΔOKI/MEΩN divided in two upward lines above lions; $110.00 (€103.40)
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