Lot 3408

Description

Nero, (A.D. 54-68), AE sestertius, issued c.64, Rome mint, (22.76 g), obv. laureate head to right of Nero, around very weak NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GER P M TR P IMP PP, rev. triumphal arch surmounted by emperor in facing quadriga accompanied by Pax and Victory, flanked by two soldiers, statue of Mars in side niche, (S.1962, RIC 148, BMC 188, WCN 117). Dark green patination, otherwise fine with a very fine portrait, scarce in this condition.

Ex Hans Ferdinand Collection, previously from I.S.Wright, Melbourne April 4, 1985.
$$
Ex Baldwin's London, December 1997.
This monumental triumphal arch was erected by Nero to commemorate Roman military campaigns against the Parthians in Mesopotamia and Armenia. Although not particularly successful in a military sense (Paetus lost almost his entire army at Randeia in Armenia), the war did end with a peace treaty favorable to Rome that was upheld for nearly fifty years. This coin type is vitally important for architectural historians, for the arch was rededicated if not entirely dismantled after Nero's ignominious end in AD 68, and is only known through its depiction on his coins.