Self-portrait with Nero as Apollo

So this coin holds the record for the coin I have waited for the longest. The Spanish auction where I won it closed December 19th; I only received this coin today. After some paperwork problems and a carrier switch, it finally made its way to my doorstep. It was originally sent Federal Express but arrived UPS (!?). I guess FedEx got the FEDERAL part right but the EXPRESS part still needs work. (I documented my woes here: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/fedex-“unable-to-complete-delivery…”.393439/ )


I'm very happy with the coin. The strike is strong for the grade, though the patina is uneven, compromising its eye appeal. Still, I think this coin is a lot more scarce than it's thought to be. For every 25 SPQR Flying Victory reverses, I might see 1 of these. But that’s completely anecdotal.

The reverse is conventionally thought to be Nero in the guise of Apollo playing the lyre, though to me the graceful figure on the reverse does not seem to have the same physique as the fleshly figure of the obverse. The traditional identification comes ultimately from the ancient Roman historian Suetonius.

In his LIFE OF NERO, Suetonius describes a Neronian procession through Rome, ultimately referencing the coin: “[T]hrough the arch of the Circus Maximus…he made his way across the Velabrum and the Forum to the Palatine and the temple of Apollo. All along the route victims were slain, the streets were sprinkled from time to time with perfume, while birds, ribbons, and sweetmeats were showered upon him. He placed the sacred crowns in his bed-chambers around the couches, as well as statues representing him in the guise of a lyre-player; and he had a coin too struck with the same device.” [NERO §25]

Rarely does an ancient source mention a specific coin design, but this one seems to qualify. I do, however, wonder if we have uncritically accepted Suetonius’s identification. That reverse figure does not look like Nero. Maybe the graceful figure is a projection of who Nero would like to be, and verisimilitude is not the point.

Why the selfie? If the reverse is a kind of self-portrait of Nero as Apollo, a selfie seemed in order. And maybe, despite the thinning hair, I was just feeling pretty.

So post whatever you like: some more Nerones, or a long-awaited treasure, or maybe even a coin selfie.

 

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Good to see it arrives. I have 3 coins that have been in customs for years now, probably to never see my mug in-person.

It's a nice Nero even with the uneven Patina. And nothing wrong with a selfie.

I own many Nero's but this one is always a forum favorite.


Nero (54 - 68 A.D.)
Egypt, Alexandria
Billon Tetradrachm
O: NEΡΩ KΛAY KAIS SEBA GEP AVTO, laureate head right.
R: NEO AGAQ DAIM, Agathodaemon serpent, coiled with head up, holding poppies and grain ears, L ς (date) to left. Year 6.
23mm
13.11g
Milne 203; Emmett 106.6 (R4) ; RPC 5260

The Agathodaemon was a good spirit/demon that was worshipped by the ancient Egyptians.
He had the shape of a serpent with a human head.
The Greek inscription on the reverse of this coin shows that this is the "neo" or "new" agathodaemon serpent, or, in other words, the new good spirit (of rule by Nero).

 

That's a lovely coin and it is good that it finally arrived. It seems, these days, that whether or not a coin from overseas arrives quickly or takes forever is almost like taking a roll of the dice or a spin of the proverbial roulette wheel.

I really like the patina of your coin, which really adds to its appeal, in my view.

A nice acquisition!

 

Congrats Gavin, heres my Neron with Apollo playing the lyre:

 

Great coin, and nice to see you Gavin.

 

Congratulations on the late arrival of your Nero! I've had a few long waits like that from both Spain and Germany in the past year or two. (One was about 6 months!)

I love this type of Nero. I'm still looking for my example of the Imperial type.

My example is the Provincial version from Thessaly. You just see it at the top of my reverse, but Apollo is depicted with a radiate crown to emphasize that it is supposed to be Nero in the guise of Apollo (since Nero had taken to associating himself with the sun god(s), and portrayed himself as radiate).

It was struck on the occasion of his Greek musical tour of 66/67 CE, playing his lyre and performing at every games he could, and his "liberation of Achaea." (This was a couple years after the great fire, but in 64, he really was "fiddling while Rome burned" -- just not in Rome!)

Roman Provincial. Thessaly, Koinon of Thessaly. Nero (Augustus, 54-68 CE) Æ Diassarion (22mm, 9.52 g, 6h). Struck under Aristion, strategos, ca. 66-8 CE.
Obv: ΝЄΡΩΝ ΘЄCCΑΛΩΝ. Laureate head right.
Rev: APIΣTIΩN/OΣ ΣTPATH/ΓOY. Apollo Kitharoidos standing right, holding kithara in his left hand, playing it with his right.

Ref: Rogers Type 79; BCD Thessaly II 931.1 var. (arrangement of legend); Burrer Em. 1, Series 1, 1.1 (A1/R1 – this coin, illustrated on pl. 9); RPC 1439 (this coin cited, RPC Supplement 1 and Online, as Burrer 1.1).
See also: Huber (2014) p. 84, Group 1, C; Touratsoglou p. 159, No. 62 (possibly this coin?).
Prov: Ex-BCD Collection; CNG EA 325, “Coinage of the Thessalian League from the BCD Collection,” (23 April 2014), Lot 29; Peter J. Merani Collection (NVMMIS HISTORIAM DISCENS, Part II); CNG e-Auction 490 (21 April 2021), Lot 65.​

 

Great coin and very nice patina.

I also love the type and was very happy to purchase this one half a year ago.

 

Curtis, ex-BCD. I know he was a prolific collector, but that's still a nice pedigree!

 

My eye is typically drawn to the reverse of this type, but that's a very nice portrait.

 

Love it @Gavin Richardson !
I would love an Imperial Nero but not yet. I have a pretty interesting provincial though.

Nero
AE21
Miletus, Ionia
AD 54-68
Magistrate Ti. Damas.
Obverse: CEBACTOC, laureate head right
Reverse: EΠI TI ΔAMA MIΛHCIΩN downwards to left and right of Apollo standing right, holding bow and stag

 

These are really interesting comments. I've thought about this coin a lot (especially for not having the RIC type yet!), but I had also accepted the conventional perspective:

Most of the time I was researching these, I spent wondering if the Provincial ones could be tied to the Imperial series (I think there's good reason to believe so), and if the Provincials could also be said to portray Nero-as-Apollo.

But you're right, we've put a lot of interpretative weight on that single statement from Suetonius. I don't have the page number, but I noted that Mattingly accepted Suetonius' Nero-as-Apollo description in the 1923 BMCRE Vol 1. I would guess it was already an old idea (among modern numismatists) at that time.

It may not always be the most reliable, but sometimes, if one can find well-enough preserved specimens, it seems that the facial features on reverse figures might help answer whether the Emperors are those being portrayed (or family members, or for Greeks, the Kings, etc.).

These two RIC ones aren't mine. Here's a CNG Web-shop example (from ACSearch) that, to me, does look like Nero's facial features on the reverse (I also just noticed the hand on the back of the lyre/cithara strings--beautiful!):



Here's another, from different dies, Fig. 5 on page 9 of Ellithorpe (2017), cited below. From CNG EA 276 (21 Mar 2012), Lot 379:



Now that you've made me think about it, though, I'm starting to feel the Provincials are the ones that may be more Nero-like! The faces on the RPC 1439's like mine are rather "Muppet"-like, both on obverse and reverse, but those comparisons are even riskier on cruder Provincials (more RPC 1439 Online examples).

As I stated above, the radiate crown on the Apollo is usually considered a way to emphasize that it was Nero.

He was also portrayed radiate on the obverse of this contemporary issue (this is another one of mine that was also ex-BCD collection, and came from the same sale, CNG EA 325):



On a funny side-note, the late great Rev. Rogers (1932: 35-6, No. 81, Fig 24) interpreted the Taurokathapsia scene above as a “bovine centaur”!

I've found quite a few references addressing the Nero-as-Apollo question for the Provincials (specifically RPC 1439) -- more than for the Imperials. Perhaps that's because no one ever thought to do the leg-work and answer your question, Do we really know if that's Nero on the reverse of the As and Dupondius?

Thanks! "Prolific" is definitely right. I really enjoy the scholarly nature of the collection, and the fact that great attention was given to cataloging each coin (with their handwritten labels and notes), including the most unassuming examples. The Thessaly collection, especially, is vast: CNG not only had many e-auctions (some cataloged well enough to serve as supplementary references in their own right, such as EA-325, "Coinage of the Thessalian League from the BCD Collection"), they also sold huge group lots of BCD Thessaly duplicates beginning with Triton XVI in 2013. Here's one lot alone with over 1,000 coins just from Phalanna! There were many, many lots like that, continuing over multiple sales!


For those interested, a couple more of the Imperial references I've found useful when reviewing this issue:

Bolton, J.D.P. 1948. “Was the Neronia a Freak Festival?” The Classical Quarterly 42 (3/4): pp. 82-90. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/636569]

Not specifically numismatic, mostly about Nero's "Games" and their timing; but does discuss the dating of the RIC coinage in celebration of the Neronia (i.e., Apollo w/ Cithara) beginning at the bottom of p. 87 through 89.​

Ellithorpe, Corey. 2017. Circulating Imperial Ideology: Coins as Propaganda in the Roman World. Doctoral Dissertation: UNC-Chapel Hill. [Direct download of .pdf: https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/downloads/nc580n441?locale=en ]

Discussed on pp. 9-10, with references to literature, illustrating an example with what I think is an Apollo with Neronian features.​

Some Provincial refs:

Burrer, Friedrich. 1993. Münzprägung und geschichte des thessalischen Bundes in der römischen kaiserzeit bis auf Hadrian (31 v. Chr. - 138 n. Chr.). Saarbrücken Archäologisches Institut der Universität des Saarlandes.

Incidentally, I'm waiting for my Burrer to come in a delayed / slow delivery from Germany! Forget that additional point of relevance in my first reply -- deliveries of numismatic literature are slow too nowadays!​

Huber, Katharina. 2014. “Typologische Untersuchung zu festlandgriechischen und ägyptischen Lokalprägungen zur Zeit der Griechenlandreise des Kaisers Nero,” Mitteilungender Österreichischen Numismatischen Gesellschaf, Vol 54 (2): pp. 75-99. [in German] https://www.academia.edu/9199791/

Levy, Brooks. 1984. “Nero's liberation of Achaea : some numismatic evidence from Patrae.” In Heckel et al. Ancient coins of the Graeco-Roman world : the Nickle numismatic papers [1984 ed. on Google Books, lim. prev.]

Papaefthymiou, Eleni. 2005. “La visite de Néron en Grèce: le temoignage numismatique.” Pp. 915-925 in Proceedings of the XIII Congresso International de Numismatica, Madrid 2003. [Researchgate.net, 326976783] (in French)

 

That’s a very generous response to a casual comment from me. But to expand on it, my observation is a bit banal. When I look at these imperial issues, upon the reverse I see a lithe, graceful, tall figure whose hand has just finished making a left-to-right sweep over that lyre. Yet on the obverse I see a corpulent, if not bloated, bust. The body types of obverse and reverse, to my eyes, do not match up.

But in that second type you presented from CNG, the bust type is much more svelte and accords better with the figure on the reverse. I don’t know enough about the bust types to suggest that the more corpulent ones are later, but that stands to reason. Maybe the reverse die was engraved during the emperor’s leaner years and became a stable iconography even as the emperor himself changed.

 

Was Apollo overweight or did Nero need to go on a diet?

 

I'm so glad that your coin arrived safely! I really like it!

It seems to be a coin arrival day. Mine was only 2 3/4 weeks, but DHL via Deutsche Post came through: (in the Fedex thread).

RIC 298a, Gordian III Sestertius. (bought for the patina and to serve as an inexpensive DHL guinea pig).

 

That's a great type, congrats on finally having it in hand!



As @Curtis notes, on some dies at least the reverse does look somewhat like Nero. (I had one like that as a kid with a terrible obverse. I actually got it from a pick bin! Wish I'd kept it.) Also worth noting that Apollo is normally represented in a rather androgynous fashion, something that Nero wasn't averse to himself, so I'm sure the actual portrayal on the reverse would have appealed to him. Portraying him isn't necessarily the same as looking like him, even if the obverse has realistic portraiture.

 

Is that the small diameter, possibly experimental issue?

 

Is that question directed to me? The coin is small, 23mm and 6.85g, but as far as I know is a regular RIC 210 struck c. 64. The asses at that time were reduced in size. I'm not familiar with the notion that there was an experimental issue... do tell!

 

I believe I conflated the types; the one I was referring to is Sear 1977/RIC 214. I can't remember where the experimental reference came from; perhaps some coin dealer musings over the years (probably referring to the dupondius version)?

Your coin is quite attractive, as is Gavin Richardson's.

 

Thanks! I was amazed I got it for opening price ($100) in a CNG auction, I think people were put off by the patina damage and didn't blow it up to see the nice detail.

There are a LOT of RIC numbers for this type...

 

Ah; I was too tired to thumb through my RIC I. I just parroted the numbers given in Sear RCV I.