117, Lot: 219. Estimate $500. Sold for $525. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

NERO. 54-68 AD. Æ Sestertius (36mm, 26.32 g). Lugdunum (Lyon) mint. Struck circa 67 AD. Laureate head right, globe at point of bust; c/m: X within rectagular incuse on neck / Nero on horseback right, holding spear; behind him rides a soldier carrying a vexillum. For coin: RIC I 577; WCN 485; cf. BMCRE 312; cf. Cohen 86; for c/m D.W. MacDowall, "Two Roman Countermarks of AD 68," NumChron 1960, 102-106, and Pl. VII, 1. Near VF, green patina.

This countermark is known only on the coins of Nero minted at Lugdunum during the final four years of his reign, a fact confirmed by an upper Danubian origin for the majority of the recorded specimens. Unlike most countermarks, whose purpose was for re-tariffing, this countermark denotes that the coin was meant for the specific use of the legion X Gemina, a pro-Flavian legion which was stationed in the region during the civil war in 69, and which was instrumental in quelling the uprising of Civilis at the same time.