I
had to invent a new catagory for this coin. This is my first "Oh my god, what have I done?" Coin of the Day, reflecting the feeling you get shortly after purchasing it. A kind of sick, creeping feeling which starts in the pit of your stomach, slowy rises to your
head and turns your brain to mush.
After which you turn into a sort of gibbering wreck.
Nero. AE
Sestertius.
BMCRE 155;
Cohen 94,
RIC I 176
var (
obv legend),
MacDowall 74 (Obv Die A104, plII) VF, broad
flan, 30.955g, 38.6mm, 180o,
Rome mint, 64 A.D.;
obverse NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM P M TR P IMP P P, laureate
head right, wearing
aegis;
reverse DECVRSIO in ex, no SC,
Nero on horseback prancing r., wears
cuirass, short tunic, and billowing cloak, spear in r.; to r., soldier moving r. carrying
vexillum; to l. in shallow relief, soldier running r.; dark
patina, brick-red areas, some pits on
obverse, light
smoothing, perfectly centered on an extraordinary broad
flan, well-struck, from superb-style dies;
rare.
This sestertius was an early emission from the Rome Mint, which resumed striking bronze after about 10 years of inactivity. The talented engraver, perhaps with extra time for this initial project, produced one of the best dies in the entire imperial bronze series. The special style, complemented by superior execution, has similarities to later medallions.
The fine expressive portrait has higher relief than the more common Lugdunum issues. The reverse uses the roundness of the flan and three geometric planes of relief to both present the scene in a format that draws the eye to the emperor and show movement that is lacking on almost all other Roman coins. The rare use of geometric planes was repeated on ADLOCVTIO sestertii of Galba five years later, perhaps the work of the same artist. Rome sestertii after 70 A.D. are of far less impressive style.
The lack of SC leaves the reverse fields uncluttered. SC stood for Senatus Consultum, "By Decree of the Senate" and signified the role of the Senate in the minting of brass and bronze coinage. Many sestertii of Caligula and some brass and bronze of Nero lack SC. Subsequent issues include SC again, until inflation produced the demise of the sestertius under Gallienus, c. 265 AD LordBest.