EGYPT, Alexandria. Nero. 54-68 AD. Æ Dichalkon (12mm, 0.92 gm). Dated year 10 (63/4 AD). Anepigraphic; laureate head right; L I (date) across field / Large I within wreath. Cf. Köln 215; cf. RPC I 5262; cf. Dattari 283; Milne -. Choice VF. Rare this nice with clear regnal date.
While the major references have assigned this coin to Nero, the portrait does not apparently conform to the date. Unlike these published examples, our coin clearly displays the regnal year and should place it into the final half-decade of Nero's reign. By this time, however, his portraits on imperial issues display increasingly corpulent features; this coin shows a markedly younger and leaner, more Claudian man. One possibility is that this coin represents Nero upon his adoption as Claudius' heir in 50 AD, a date which would conform to Claudius regnal year 10 (49/50 AD), and could be supported by the presence of the wreath on the reverse. The significence regarding the large "I", however, remains for further study.
