Exceptional Nerva Portrait

Sale: Triton XI, Lot: 915. Estimate $5000.  Closing Date: Monday, 7 January 2008.  Sold For $4250. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Nerva. AD 96-98. AR Cistophorus (10.66 g, 6h). Uncertain Asia Minor (or Rome) mint. Struck AD 97. IMP NERVA CAES AVG P M TR POT P P COS III, laureate head right / COM-ASI across field, distyle temple set on three-tiered base; within, cult statue of Augustus standing facing, holding spear in right hand, being crowned with wreath by female figure holding cornucopia in left hand; ROMA ET AVG across entablature. RIC II 122 var. (ROM not ROMA); RSC 14a; BMCRE 79; BN 60-1. EF, handsome gray toning. Exceptional strike and metal for issue. Well centered. Amazing portrait.

While no decisive evidence exists for the location of the mint of the cistophori during the reigns of Vespasian through Trajan, the style, legends, and, in particular, the consistent die axis point to Rome, suggesting that these coins were minted in the capital and then sent to Asia for local use.