Colossus of Nero

237, Lot: 398. Estimate $500. Sold for $1200. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Nero. AD 54-68. AV Aureus (18mm, 7.07 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 64-65. Laureate head right / Nero, radiate, standing facing, holding branch and globe surmounted by Victory. RIC I 46; WCN 22; Calicó 402. Fair, somewhat bent.

The reverse depicts Nero’s Colossus, a roughly 120 foot tall bronze statue of the emperor 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 AD 64. Its memory was retained in the popular name of the amphitheater constructed by the Flavians close to the site - the Colosseum.