Nero Sestertius Help Please.....

bottleguy

I've narrowed this down to a Nero Sestertius Annona?, 65 A.D.?, but that's as far as I could get. Any additional info would be greatly appreciated, such as where it was minted, condition, value??? It appears to be bronze and is about the size of a U.S. silver dollar.

Thanks!!

Rick

Sapyx

All ancient coins have been cleaned, but I would call this one "overcleaned"; brass ancients aren't supposed to be stripped down to shiny metal. And with all that pitting, I couldn't grade it above Fine.

Now, to the coin itself.

Reverse type: ANNONA AVGVSTI CERES. Annona standing to the left, facing Ceres seated to the right, modius between them, a grain transport ship is in the background. According to Sear, it was minted in Lugdunum (now Lyons, France) in 65 AD. Sear number 1592, list price $400 in Fine.

Ceres was goddess of agriculture and the harvest. Annona was the goddess of the harvest and in charge of delivering the harvest safely to Rome. A modius was a standard-sized basket used to measure and carry grain.

The coin can be considered a commemorative; it's certainly a propaganda piece. Nero's completion of the new port facilities at Ostia, near Rome, helped ensure the safe and rapid transportation of the grain shipments from Egypt, vital for the continued survival of such a large city. Nero was reminding everyone who to thank for their daily bread - himself.

lordmarcovan

OK, so it's rather harshly cleaned, and yeah, it's pitted, but that's still a Nero sestertius, which is worthy of a modest "wow" in my book!

In a better state of preservation, that would be a high-dollar piece. As is, it's still worth three figures, I'm sure.



Have you taken a spin through Wildwinds.com yet?

For some strange reason, the Nero page is not loading for me at this particular moment, but try it- it might work for you, and if it doesn't, it will likely work later.

bottleguy

Thanks for the info folks! Ancient coins aren't my thing (yet), but I'm starting to get interested!!

Thanks again,

Rick