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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;The Meat man, post: 25260654, member: 135271&quot;]Here is another one of my more recent &#039;quality&#039; denarii purchases - and one of my favorites:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1611349[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center"><i>NERO, AD 54-68</i></p><p><i><p style="text-align: center"><i>AR Denarius (17.24mm, 3.47g, 7h)</i></p></i></p><p style="text-align: center"><i><i>Struck AD 68. Rome mint</i></p></i></p><p style="text-align: center"><i><i>Obverse: IMP NERO CAESAR AVG P P, laureate head of Nero right</i></p></i></p><p style="text-align: center"><i><i>Reverse: Legionary eagle between two standards</i></p></i></p><p style="text-align: center"><i><i>References: RIC I 68, RCV 1947</i></p><p></i></p><p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><i>A scarce type. Lightly toned with an excellent portrait.</i></p><p><i><p style="text-align: center"><i>From the T. R. Hardaker Collection (1942-2019)</i></p><p></i></p><p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><i>&quot;This type, among the last coins struck by the very unmilitary Nero, would seem to be an attempt to curry favor with the Roman legions of the provinces, which were beginning to rebel against his capricious rule. It did not work.&quot; - Classical Numismatic Group (lot description)</i></p><p><br /></p><p>Though this coin definitely exhibits more wear than my other purchases, it&#039;s still got a lot going for it in my opinion. The portrait is classic, late-reign obese Nero, skillfully executed and well-struck. The reverse is an interesting, and somewhat scarce, anepigraphic type, among the last types struck by Nero in the last year of his reign. By this time, nobody was willing to entertain Nero&#039;s depraved eccentricities.</p><p><br /></p><p>The coin is also very nicely toned, and I discovered an interesting collection provenance after finding the coin on ACSearch.info. It was formerly in the collection of T. R. Hardaker, a well-known authority on ancient Indian punchmark coinage, but who also possessed a sizeable collection of other ancient coins. Many of these (including this coin) were auction off by Baldwin&#039;s of St. James&#039;s auction house a few years ago.</p><p><br /></p><p>All in all, a very satisfying addition![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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