Featured Majestic Nerva Sestertius - FORTVNA AVGVST

Mattingly and Sydenham have commented that Nerva’s coin portraits are consistent in depicting his "ungainly" features without modification.
However, while many of his gold and silver issues may portray Nerva with grotesque features, this is not an accurate statement when we consider the bronze issues, which often present Nerva as nobly idealized, following in the Hellenistic tradition.



IMP NERVA CAES AVG PM TR P COS III P P - Laureate head of Nerva right /
FORTVNA AVGVST S C – Fortuna, wearing long dress and mantle, standing facing, head left, holding a rudder set on ground in right hand and a cornucopiae in left hand
Sestertius, Rome mint, 01.01.-18.09.97 a.D. (3rd emission of Nerva)
35 mm / 31,2 gr
RIC 83, Cohen 67, BMCRE 107, Sear -, Banti 21 (18 specimens)
From the collections of Fritz Reusing (1874-1956, acquired from Adolph Hess Nachf., Frankfurt, ca. 1930) and Paul Schürer (1890-1976), Manfred Olding fixed price list 96 (March 2019), Nr.200



According to Roman beliefs, happiness and prosperity of the people were subject to the whims and fortune of the goddess Fortuna, which is why this not infrequently also found its place in the coinage of the emperors.

FORTVNA AVGVST(I) depicts the familiar figure of fortune holding her usual attributes, a rudder and cornucopiaea. This type represents the result of the wisdom of the gods in that they have placed Nerva on the throne.
The rudder symbolizes Fortuna´s purposeful direction and guidance while the cornucopiae underscore the material blessings she and the emperor provide.



The deployment of her image across the spectrum od denominations from Aurei down to Asses, her appearance in all emissions (except the very short fifth), and the high proportion of this type in the mint´s output suggest that the good luck flowing from Nerva´s principate to his subjects was an important message.

Fortuna appears on half of Nerva´s Dupondii and one third of his Asses and Sestertii, making her the single most common image on all three base metal denominations (on his Denarii, she comes in second behind the CONCORDIA EXERCITVVM types).

While according to OCRE the average weight of Nerva´s Sestertii is ca. 25 grams, this specimen weights a hefty 31.2, surpassing 99 % of all Sestertii struck.

It´s former owner was the renowned German portrait painter and professor at the Düsseldorf Academy of Fine Arts, Reinhard Friedrich („Fritz“) Reusing, who created many well-known oil portraits of important personalities of his time.

Here is a self portrait from 1929 and Reusing´s monumental painting of German Emperor Wilhelm II:



Some time, probably in the 1920s or early 1930s, Reusing, who also was also a passionate collector of Roman Imperial portrait coins, acquired my coin from the Frankfurt auction house Adolph Hess Nachfolger, whose ticket came wiith it :



When Reusing left no offspring, his coin collection was inherited by his nephew Paul Schürer, who extended his uncle´s collection with coins of the Roman Republic and late Antiquity. This great collection of coins that have not been on the market for generations was offered by German dealer Manfred Olding in his print-only March 2019 fixed price catalogue and at the Munich coin fare.

When I heard about it, the most spectacular bronzes had been sold already, but I managed to get a hold of this big Nerva which I find is a worthy upgrade to both my nice but small Dupondius and my big bot very worn Sestertius of his.

Please post your coins of the „13th Caesar“ and the heaviest Sestertii you have!

... and maybe one of you has access to the 1920´s (or so) Adolph Hess catalogue that features my coin?

 

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Lovely coin and well-pedigreed! Nice one!

The "13th Caesar":




My heaviest sestertius, weighing in at 27.6 gm:

 

That is a beautiful coin - just amazing! Nerva sestertius are hard to find in any fine state (from my experience anyway.. been looking for a few months) and they are extremely expensive and way out of my league. Yours is the best I have seen by a long shot.
Congratulations!!

I will have to be content with my modest dupondius.. although I am a fan of the portrait.



my heaviest sestertius is in the mail... to arrive shortly


Domitian, 81 - 96 AD
AE Sestertius, Rome Mint, 35mm, 30.75 grams
Obverse: IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GER M COS XIII CENS PER P P, Laureate head of Domitian right.
Reverse: IOVI VICTORI S C, Jupiter seated left holding Victory and scepter.
RIC526

 

Indeed, a very impressive portrait of beautiful style!

Well documented as well. Congratulations on your new sestertius.

 

that is a nice one with great provenance too...(Nerva's still got the snozalla tho) Antioch Nerva Ae 22mm 9.16gms

 

A fantastic coin! The portrait is indeed very idealised, very much like those struck for Domitian.

 

That is an outstanding coin and would be the center piece of anyone's collection. Congratulations on getting such a beautiful coin.

Here's my Nerva


And since David brought it up, a Domitian with Fortuna

 

Nerva, 96-98 AD. Sestertius (Orichalcum, 35mm, 23.10 gm 6h), Rome, after 18 September 97 AD. Obv: IMP NERVA CAES AVG P M TR P II COS III P P Laureate head of Nerva to right. Rev. LIBERTAS PVBLICA / S - C Libertas standing left, holding pileus in her right hand and scepter in her left. Banti 34. BMC 135. BN 120. Cohen 118. RIC 100. A fine portrait.

 

Gorgeous sestertius Julius!
Nerva den. and sest.

 

Wonderful sestertius! My Nerva AE is a dupondius which I admit was selected largely for not being a Fortuna.

 

What a noble portrait and interesting story about this coin.
Bravo !

A Nerva Dupondius, and my smallest sestertius (1,06 gram) instead of a biggest of some sort ( )


Nerva, Dupondius - Rome mint, AD 97
IMP NERVA CAES AVG P M TRP COS III PP, radiate head of Nerva right
LIBERTAS PUBLICA, Liberty standing left, SC in field
13,87 gr
Ref : Cohen #116, RCV #3059







Republic, Sestertius Rome mint, ca 211-208 BC
Head of Roma right, IIS behind
Dioscuri riding right, two stars above, ROMA at exergue
1.06 gr, 13 mm
Ref : RCV # 46, RSC # 4

I know, it's cheating a bit, but what the heck, we're in there for fun, aren't we ?

Q

 

Great portrait of Nerva, congrats Julius.
Here's my Sestertius from Antioch:

 

Thanks everybody!!!

My hunt for the "perfect Nerva" took me three years and four purchases...

First (when I still had the strength to restrict myself to spend not more than 100 USD per coin) I bought this Dupondius:



But soon enough I realized that middle bronzes are not big enough for my taste.
So I doubled the budget and got this 35-mm-version of the Liberalitas type next:



Sadly, it was identified as an old cast by David Sear, but so I was able to return it.

Frustrated, I got a budget but genuine Sestertius next which had the benefit of being a rare and desirable type:



[IMP NERVA C]AES AVG - P M [TR P COS III PP] – Laureate head of Nerva right
VEHICVL[ATIONE ITALIAE REMISSA S C]- Two mules grazing, one right, one left; in the background a high-wheeled cart, with pole and harness, tipped up and pointing slightly to left
Sestertius, Rome 97
22,18 gr, 35 mm
BMC 119; Cohen 143; RIC 93, Banti 44, Sear 3055, CBN 108, Vagi 1217
Ex Numismatik Lanz, from an Austrian collection, ex David Kallai Kunsthandel, Vienna, around 1920

But despite feeling nice in hand, it looked pitiful in my portrait gallery due to its worn down state (so both it and the Dupondius have to go now).

Anyway, I am happy that I finally found the OP coin.
This is a lesson why one should not bother with compromises but get the best affordable coin in the first place