I was hunting for a Nero and this was just too beautiful to pass up... Nero (AD 54-68) Rome, 63 AD Orichalcum sestertius, 34 mm, 26.7 gm Obv: NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM P M TR P IMP PP; laureate head right, wearing aegis Rev: ANNONA AVGVSTI CERES; Ceres, veiled and draped, seated left, holding corn ears and torch, her feet on stool, facing Annona standing right, holding cornucopia; between them, modius on garlanded altar; in background, stern of ship Ref: RIC 98. Cohen 24 NGC Choice XF 5/5 - 3/5, Fine Style (please click the picture to enlarge ) The arrival picture shows the hazards of shipping bulky ancient coins in slabs. The coin was knocked askew. Maybe he was just trying to break out of jail. I tried the vise method this time but ultimately a big hammer was required to set him free. CNG's blurb about the type: "In order to endear himself, Nero granted many largesses to the common people in the form of congiaria---typically personified by Annona, a provision for one year usually in the form of grain, and by Ceres, the goddess of agriculture and a representation of the grain itself." I'd hoped to have a concise summary of Nero ready to roll when the coin arrived... but it is here and I haven't finished reading pertinent portions of The Annals (Tacitus), De Vita Caesarum (Suetonius), and various other accounts of his reign. One thing is clear though-- there's a lot more to Nero than fire and a fiddle (and that legend isn't accurate anyway). Accounts vary for some important stories, though all accounts are loaded with lurid details-- some more lurid than others. Apparently the citizens liked him well enough, at least for a while. This Annona and Ceres coin served to remind the citizenry of his largesse. When and if I finish reading about him, I'll try to do a vlaha-style book report. Given what I've read so far, it may not be fit for an all-ages forum... For now though, I think these goddesses need captions. Go for it! Best one wins the coin (kidding). Oh, and post your Neros too.
This is a nice coin but it is not Choice XF (NGC notwithstanding). I was brought up to expect XF Roman portraits to have fine detail in the individual leaves of the laurel wreath. VF coins were supposed to have the individual leaves outlined but did not need details on the leaves. I see details on the top leaves but not on the ones near the ear. I'll go aXF. The reverse is nicer than the obverse. There are very few really choice XF coins. I don't have a perfect one but the obverse of this Septimius is close. Nero is another matter. My dupondii are not even close but the green patina makes the fine Securitas look better than the more detailed (aVF or is it VF?) raw surfaced Victory (a water coin?).
Wow! Absolutely stunning coin TIF. Congrats on the newP. If I were more tech savvy, I'd repost a pic of your coin with captions in the bubbles. But how bout I post my most recent Nero acquisition instead: Nero; 66 AD AE As; Lugdunum Mint; 29mm/9.3g Obv: IMP NERO CAESAR AVG P MAX TR POT PP; Bust of Nero facing right Rev: SC in field; singed Victory walking left with shield emblazoned with SPQR (RIC 541)
When I showed a cropped version of the listing picture to another forum member sometime after purchase, he asked what the NGC grade was. I had to look at the auction listing because I didn't notice the grade. I really don't care if NGC graded this F or Gem MS+. To borrow a (horrible) phrase, "it is what it is". And "what it is" is a lovely sestertius of Nero with an exceptional reverse, with a price that compared favorably to similar coins when "graded" by my eyes.
Sproooiinnnggg!!! Wow, Coin-Princess => that is one pretty lookin' coin (I love the ol' ship-stern in the background ... very cool) Congrats on another fantastic pick-up (I'm very jealous of that baby!!) => Bannon, you took the words right outta my mouth!! (sadly, I do not have the skilz to doctor-up the thought balloons ... I need my office techy-dudes) Ummm yah, but it's probably kinda lucky that I can't fill-in those thought balloons, for I'm fairly sure that my balloon-conversations would involve some sort of off-colour racy comments (*self-edited by stevex6*) that would eventually escalate and end-up landing me dead-center in the middle of "PAN, goat-territory" (s0 phew, I dodged a bullet there!!) ... anyway ... Here is my only NERO example
That is exactly why the coin is better off free even though its slab reported on it favorably. Now you can see just how nice it is. My question might be how it could be sold for a favorable price when contained in a high end slab. You might expect someone who buys for the slab to have paid more than someone who just liked the coin.
TIF, I signed in specifically to commend you on that beautiful sestertius. A very beautiful coin - I particularly like the reverse, with its wealth of detail. Congratulations!
Sorry I haven't commented before now. Busy, busy. Very nice TIF and I can only echo what all the others have said. This is a coin rivaling some of the best shown on this forum.
It's very much to the credit of this coin that it has NOT been tooled in order to bring out the detail in the individual leaves of the laurel wreath. Far too many times, coins that are otherwise outstanding but lack fine detail in these areas are re-engraved to provide fine detail that simply wasn't in the original coin. Realistically, I don't know what "choice" XF means anyway. In the more conventional grading system I would evaluate this coin as "about EF/EF" (obverse/reverse) and leave it at that. It's an excellent portrait and the reverse is simply outstanding. And yes, all the funny captions I can imagine are either R or X rated.
As everyone else has said, this is a fantastic coin and I'm extremely glad you won it, especially at such a great price! It's definitely a keeper and much happier in the open air