Aureus for the Well-Being of Nero

167, Lot: 125. Estimate $2000. Sold for $2350. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Nero. AD 54-68. AV Aureus (19mm, 7.23 g). Rome mint. Struck AD 66-68. Laureate head right / Salus seated left, holding patera. RIC I 59. VF.

From the C. G. Collection. Ex Stack’s (12 April 1995), lot 7.

In the year AD 65/6 two new types make their first appearance on the gold and silver coins of Nero, Jupiter Custos- “Guardian”, and Salus- “Well-Being” (of the emperor). Both confer divine protection on Nero, who had survived the most potent threat to his rule since he succeeded Claudius in AD 54. The Pisonian Conspiracy got its name from G. Calpurnius Piso, a wealthy and flamboyant senator who was being put forward as an alternative emperor by a cabal of senior military officers and government potentates who feared for their positions and lives under the increasingly erratic Nero. The plot was discovered, a number of prominent Romans were executed, and others, such as the political philosopher Seneca, the poet Lucan and the satirical writer Petronius were forced to commit suicide. The emperor gave thanks to the gods for his salvation, but his fate was only delayed for a few years.