Nero Drusus, sestertius, Rome AD 50-54. AE 36 mm, 27.15 g. I liked this coin because I didn't have any sestertius earlier than the Flavians, and this one was affordable. It is very large, too large for my trays: I cannot store it with my other 1st c. Roman coins which are denarii, small and middle bronzes. A typical Julio-Claudian sestertius. I could not afford a superb specimen, for Julio-Claudian sestertii are much sought after and particularly expensive, but I liked that one. It has been much circulated and worn. It is of course impossible to tell how long a coin has been circulating. I remember when I was a kid staying some time in the United Kingdom, in the last year of their medieval coinage system with pounds worth 20 shillings and shillings worth 12 pence. I liked their large copper pence of Elizabeth II, but sometimes I got in my change George VI, George V, Edward VII and even, once, a blackened very worn and smooth penny of Victoria which had been circulating for more than 70 years... But a penny was small change in the 20th c. and it changed hands more often than a 1st c. Roman sestertius. This large and heavy coin was the price for a basic dinner in a roadside inn (bread : 1 as, pulmentarium : 2 asses, and you got one as left for the drink). Under Claudius a Roman legionary's pay was 225 denarii a year, which means something like c. 2 sestertii and 2 asses a day. A sestertius had a significant value and changed hands less frequently than a British 20th c. penny, a much worn specimen must have been in circulation for at least a century. This is also what the study of hoards tells us. This Nero Drusus sestertius was probably still circulating in the late Antonine period, even perhaps under the Severian dynasty. Sestertii ceased to circulate in the 270s, and we rarely find very worn and smooth sestertii of Gordian III, even Severus Alexander : 30 or 40 years were not enough to polish them like earlier sestertii. What I like in this large coin is that it is well centred, all significant details are still visible and the whole legends are readable. Obv.: NERO CLAVDIVS DRVSVS GERMANICVS IMP, bare head of Nero Drusus left. He is not an emperor, his only title here is IMP(erator), that means general, military commander, and he received from the Senate the cognomen Germanicus, "conqueror of the Germans". He was the emperor Claudius' father. Rev.: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR P IMP P P / S C, Claudius, bare headed and togate, seated left on a curule chair on a globe among discarded arms, holding an olive-branch. This is a good illustration of the Ciceronian famous quote Arma cedant togae, "Let arms give way to the toga". The curule chair is the symbol of imperium, the globe the symbol of the universe, the branch the symbol of peace: thanks to his father's victory, the war is over and the emperor in civilian clothing now brings peace to the universe. Claudius ordered these coins minted in memory of his late father, and this exceptional homage shows his pietas erga parentes. In fact, he could not do less, for his predecessor Caius Caesar (AKA Caligula) had coins minted for all his ancestors and relatives: his father Germanicus, his mother Agrippina senior, his brothers Nero and Drusus Caesares, his sisters Agrippina, Drusilla and Julia, his grandfather Agrippa, his great-grandfather Augustus... Claudius could not be less pious than Caligula! Caligula's father Germanicus had asses and dupondii minted for him, but Claudius' father, another Germanicus (it's written in full letters), will have sestertii!
I really like this coin and enjoyed the write up. My earliest (and only) sestertius is a Marcus Aurelius from over a century later.
That is a nice addition! These early Sestertii can be very broad, so even with some wear they are usually impressive coins. My Nero Claudius Drusus Sestertius is unfortunately somewhat pitted. Edited from an old photo -- the color doesn't look this weird -- but I do think it was re-patinated: Ex Coll. of Philip in Yonkers, prev. Forum Ancient Coins. I don't have many Julio-Claudian Sestertii either (at least not presentable ones!). I have a couple of the Claudius Spes ones -- both are probably from "unofficial" mints in Gaul: Ex Richard Baker & Al Kowsky Collections And this Divus Augustus, struck by Tiberius a generation before the coins above, and showing a similar design of a full-bodied figure seated left (but seated on a throne rather than a curule). Ex ANS (2018-2021), Robert W. Bartlett (1924-2017) Bequest, acq. at Birkler-Waddell III, Lot 260, at the 1981 NYINC.
The curule chair is the symbol of high magistrates who have imperium. Divus Augustus is a god, not a magistrate, and like Jupiter he sits on a throne with a back...
There is a long-standing debate about who is seated on the reverse (another debate is whether that's reverse) of this Divus Augustus Dupondius, struck under Caligula. One bit of support for it being Caligula might be that he is seated on a curule, whereas might expect Augustus to be on a throne. (From the 2nd coin below, however, we have to ask how universal that depiction of Div. Aug. was.) My specimen: Ex Divus Augustus AE Dupondius (30mm, 16.57 g, 6h) struck in Rome under Caligula, ca. 37-41. Ex Archer Huntington (1870-1955), ANS & HSA Collections (Acc. No. 1001.1.22981) Note, however, that on the "restitution issue" of the type above (Tiberius Sestertius w Augustus on throne) under Titus, Divus Augustus is shown seated on a curule. Here is the British Museum specimen: https://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.2_1(2).tit.403 (BM 1924.0308, 25) Was the depiction of Div. Aug. on curule rather than throne a change specific to the Flavian period somehow? Or are there such depictions (not necessarily numismatic) in the Julio-Claudian period as well? And did the Flavians give him a throne in any other depictions?
