The Colossus Aureus

158, Lot: 223. Estimate $3000. Sold for $2866. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Nero. AD 54-68. AV Aureus (19mm, 7.34 g). Rome mint. Struck AD 64-65. Laureate head right / Nero radiate and togate standing facing, holding branch in right hand and Victory on a globe in left hand. RIC I 46; BMCRE 56; Calicó 402. Good VF, some light field marks.

The reverse depicts the Colossus, a 120 foot tall bronze statue of Nero as Sol that was created by Zenodorus for the vestibule of the Domus Aurea, or Golden House, the massive palace constructed by Nero after the fire of 64 AD. The statue was destroyed after Nero's downfall in 68, but its memory was retained in the popular name of the amphitheater constructed by the Flavians at the same site-the Colosseum.