On this day, 1.950 years ago ...

Probably my favourite Roman, if that's the right word — what combination of perceived potence and impotence causes a man to be unsatisfied with merely being Imperator Caesar Augustus, and leads him to seek glory as an actor / musician / athlete / chariot racer / poet as well? I have no particular opinions on whether the most lurid libels handed down by Suetonius, Tacitus and the rest are accurate or not, but the broader picture of vanity, egoism and stupidity rings true, I feel. Suetonius' account of his having dropped an implement he was holding while performing in a competition, and being struck by genuine anxiety that the judges would disqualify their emperor, is particularly picturesque I think.

Anyway here's a nicely sinister portrait, recently acquired:

Nero, Lugdunum, 66AD: O: head left, [IM]P NERO CAESAR AVG P MAX T[R P P P] / R: Victory flying left, holding shield inscribed SP[QR], S-C between. Seller's photo.

 

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Yeah, & he wasn't much of a musician either! Now Charlie Daniels...…..

 

That's a great one to have, @Marsyas Mike ! The countermark and the mark's location, makes it unique.

 

Thanks everybody for showing you Neros!

Whatever has been written about him, his coins prove one thing: the man did have incredibly good taste. The individual portraits and interesting reverse types are something to marvel at and often represent little masterpieces of ancient art (especially well preserved Sestertii, in my eyes).
A nice summary can be found in this paperback which is hard to buy on the internet but available in most museums in the eternal city:



If I had to restrict myself to collect just coins of one single ruler, it probably would be either Nero or Hadrian (Trajan would come in third).

 

A bit late to the show, sorry. Here are my Nero's


Nero, Denarius Rome mint, AD 64/65
NERO CAESAR, laureate head of Nero right
AVGVSTVS GERMANICVS, Nero standing facing, holding branch and victory on globe
3,32 gr
Ref : RCV #1941, Cohen #45, RIC # 47
The following comment, from NFA, auction XX catalog, # 118 :
Nero's coinage reform of A.D. 64 saw a reduction in the weight standard of both the aureus and denarius denominations. A whole new range of reverse types was introduced with an unmistakably imperial flavor, in marked contrast to the senatorial types of the pre-reform coinage. This coin depicts a standing figure of the emperor, wearing the radiate crown of the sun god Sol, holding a branch of peace and a small figure of Victory. An allusion to the settlement of the Parthian question, following Corbulo's successes in Armenia in A.D. 63, seems unmistakable. It is tempting to identify this reverse type with the statue of the sun god, with the facial features of the emperor, erected by Nero in front of his Domus Aurea (Golden House), which was one of the principal features of the reconstruction following the Great Fire of Rome in A.D. 64. The Flavian Amphitheatre (Colosseum) was later erected on the site of the Domus Aurea's ornamental lake, and received its popular name from its close proximity to Nero's statue



Nero, Dupondius Rome mint AD 65
NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GER PM TR P IMP PP, Radiate head of Nero right
ROMA in ex, SC in field, Roma seated left holding wreath and parazonium, , right foot on a helmet
13.06 gr
Ref : RCV #1966, Cohen #280



Nero and Poppaea, tetradrachm Alexandria mint, AD 63-64
NERO KLAY KAIS SEB TEP AY, radiate head of Nero right
TTOTTTTAIA SEBASTH, draped bust of Poppaea right, LI in right field
12.3 gr
Ref : RCV # 2002 v, Emmett # 129

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