IONIA, Ephesus. Nero. AD 54-68. Æ (25mm, 12.46 g, 6h). Manicus Acilius Aviola, proconsul; Aichmokles, magistrate. Struck AD 65-66. Near VF.

Electronic Auction 616
Lot: 501.
Closing Date: Sep 2 2026 10:00 ET

Roman Provincial, Bronze

Estimate: $ 100

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IONIA, Ephesus. Nero. AD 54-68. Æ (25mm, 12.46 g, 6h). Manicus Acilius Aviola, proconsul; Aichmokles, magistrate. Struck AD 65-66. Laureate head right / Hexastyle temple seen in perspective, pellet in pediment. Karwiese, MvE 5 76 (V2/R2); RPC I 2626; SNG von Aulock 7863. Olive green patina, roughness. Near VF. Rare.

RPC (p. 433) notes that this type with NEOKORΩN in the reverse legend...“is the earliest occurrence of this word on coins, and it is generally thought that it does not refer to the establishment of the imperial cult at Ephesus but to the position of Ephesus as the ‘temple-keeper’ of the Temple of Artemis (J. Keil, ‘Die erste Neokorie von Ephesos,’ NZ 1919, cf. S. Price, Rituals and Power, p. 65, n. 47). But the argument that it cannot refer to a provincial temple of Nero at Ephesus is not very strong; it is based on coins of Domitian which refer to a second neocorate at Ephesus. As a neocorate for Nero would not have been included in the numbering because of his damnatio memoriae, it is argued, the first neocorate must refer to something else.”

RPC goes on to detail the suspect nature of the Domitianic coins, concluding there is no good evidence that Ephesus was neocorate for the second time during the reign of Domitian. Additionally, the authors of RPC note the discrepancies between the temple depicted on Nero’s coins (RPC 2626-8) and a seemingly close to standard way of representing the famous temple of Artemis, concluding (p. 433): “Thus, the view that the Neronian coins refer to and depict a neocorate temple in his honour seems to merit reconsideration.”

Closing Date and Time: 2 September 2026 at 12:46:40 ET.

All winning bids are subject to a 20% buyer’s fee.