The Western Coinages of Nero

The basic chronological framework for the arrangement of Nero's coinages is provided by the elements of imperial titulature found on the coins. Nero held the consulship five times, in 55, 57, 58, 60 and 68, 1 and his first and fourth consulships are recorded on the gold and silver. 2 Considerably more important are the series of tribunician dates found on the pre-reform aurei and denarii and on a limited number of the later sestertii and dupondii, and the use of "imperator" as a praenomen during the later years of his principate. Unfortunately both the reckoning of Nero's tribunicia potestas, and the date when he assumed the praenomen imperator have been disputed.

Nero celebrated the renewal of his tribunician power on 4 December, 3 fifty two days after his dies imperii of 13 October. 4 He counted it from 4 December 54, and added one to each TRP number on 4 December in each succeeding year. Apart from this unusual starting date, there is no need to assume any irregular reckoning.

The supposed difficulty in calculating Nero's TRP has been the apparently contradictory entries in two surviving fragments of the Arval Acta. For 3 January 59 Nero's titles are given as TRP V …, 5 but both the general heading for 60 and the specific entry for 3 January of that year have TRP VII IMP VII, 6 whereas on a normal reckoning one would expect to find TRP VI IMP VII. This gave rise to Mommsen's view that during 59 Nero changed his TRP renewal day to 10 December (the day of the consilia) and subsequently counted TRP I as 15 October to 9 December 54 with TRP II as 10 December 54 to 9 December 55. Nero would thus regard TRP VII as 10 December 59 to 9 December 60. 7 We now know that the Arval Acta commemorated Nero's dies imperii on 13 October in 58 4 and the bestowal of his tribunicia potestas on 4 December in both 57 and 58 3 —the sole years for which the relevant parts of the Acta survive. Any alterations, therefore, in numbering Nero's TRP cannot have been occasioned by a change in the starting date of the tribunician year. The 4 December was already in use by 57, whereas the discrepancy in the numbering of Nero's TRP does not appear until after the entry for 59.

The other epigraphic and numismatic evidence 8 supports a straightforward reckoning of Nero's TRP from 4 December 54. Most inscriptions merely establish a connection between a particular TRP date and the number of an imperial salutation. Three inscriptions, however, have an additional external date. The military diploma in Vienna granted to Iantumarus 9 is unfortunately indecisive. Although it gives a consular dating AD VI NON IVL CN PEDANIO SALINATORE L VELLEIO PATERCVLO COS besides TRIB POT VII IMP VII COS IIII in Nero's titles, the date of their suffect consulship is uncertain. 10 But the other two inscriptions are more helpful. Lucretianus' dedication from Luna 11 shows Nero as TRIB POTEST VIIII IMP VIIII and Poppaea as Poppaea Aug Neronis Caesaris Aug Germ. Poppaea gave birth to a daughter, Claudia, in 63 and both she and the child were given the title of Augusta immediately afterwards. 12 The Luna dedication thus supports the straight calculation which would make TRP VIIII December 62/63. On Mommsen's system TRP VIIII would have to be December 61/62 which is a year too early. The Boeotian inscription from Acraephia recording Nero's declaration of liberty to Greece 13 and Epameinondas' speech of thanks, has δημαρχικῆς ἐξουσίας τὸ τρισκαιδἐκατον. Hammond has shown that the assembly took place on 28 November 67, 14 and this again supports the straight calculation which would make TRP XIII December 66/67.

Nero's gold and silver coinage forms a regular series from TRP to TRP X without interruption, and gives no suggestion of any change in tribunician reckoning. The aurei and denarii of 60 have the normal COS IIII TRP VI. 15 This issue seems to be the production of a complete year, and its TRP date directly contradicts the entry in the Arval Acta of COS IIII TRP VII for 3 January of the same year.

In other circumstances one might have allowed the evidence of the Arval Acta, the record of a public college quite closely connected with the Imperial House, against the authority of a dedication from Luna and of an inscription from Boeotia; but the Luna dedication and Acraephia inscription are supported by the clear evidence of the COS IIII TRP VI aurei and denarii from the mint of Rome (see Table 1 below), an institution far more official and imperial than a public college. As these coins are struck from several distinct dies, this date can hardly be regarded as an error. The only evidence for the so called 'Arval reckoning' is the double entry in the Acta of COS IIII TRP VII for January 60, and a very good case can be made for regarding these as a mistake. There is in fact a surprisingly large number of minor errors in the Acta of this period, e.g.,

A.D. 57 16

l. 14. ob tribuniciae (sic) potestat. Neronis Claudi …

l. 23/4. immolavit/in sacram viam (sic) memoriae Cn ….

A.D. 58/9 17

l. 58. L. Piso L. f. magiter (sic)

l. 62/3. M. Apronius Saturnius (sic—for Saturninus)

A.D. 59/60 18

a. l. 15. C. Vipstanus (sic) Apronianus cos P Memmiu (sic)

l. 26. August Germanicii (sic) Iovi

d. l. 16. Caesari (sic) Aug Germanico (to agree with consule).

The imperial titles for 3 January 59, moreover, are given as TRIB POT V IMP VI COS III DESIG IIII; 19 a designation to COS IIII so far ahead as 3 January is most unlikely in view of the constitutional show which Nero's principate was anxious to maintain at this period 20 and it is likely that an entry proper to the closing months alone of the year has been put in full for 3 January. The entry COS IIII TRP VII for 3 January 60 appears to be a closely comparable error. When the Acta for 60 were formally written up at the end of the year, the engraver apparently inserted the current year's date COS IIII TRP VII (December 60/61), for January 60—an error which it would be extremely easy to make by assimilation to the neighboring IMP VII.

The other important chronological indication is Nero's use of IMP as a praenomen 21 from 66. All the known inscriptions dated TRP XII (December 65/66) and later have the praenomen IMP, whereas those dated TRP—TRP XI never have it. The Acta for 66 repeatedly refer to IMP NERO 22 whereas in the proceedings up to and including 60 (the last year before 66 where Nero's titles are recorded) Nero is never given the praenomen. Titinius' dedication at Luna dated TRP XIII IMP XI COS IIII (December 66/67) 23 is to Diva Poppaea and Imp Nero, whereas his earlier dedication in TRP VIIII (62/63) 24 repeatedly gives Nero's titles without the praenomen. The Acraephia inscription 25 dated TRP XIII gives Nero the praenomen αὐτοκράτωρ; and the Sardinian milestone dated TRP XIII IMP XI 26 has the praenomen IMP. An apparent exception, the stone from Casino 27 (no longer extant), seems to have been incorrectly transcribed. It is reported without the praenomen and dated TR POT XIII IMP VIII (sic). But this is an impossible combination which cannot be accepted, and TR POT VIII IMP VIII, a conjunction known from another inscription, 28 is the obvious emendation.

Sestertii and dupondii with TRP XIII all have the praenominal IMP and so do the rare coins dated TRP XIV. But the praenomen was never used on the aurei and denarii dated TRP—TRP X, 29 nor on the cuirassed bust sestertii. 30 The date on these has been variously read as TR POT XI PPP, 31 TR POT XII PP, 32 TR POT XI PIP, 33 TR POT XI PPI, 34 and TR POT XIIII; 35 but all the specimens which the author has examined are struck from the same obverse die with TR POT XI PPP. 36

The dated and undated coinage, moreover, shows clearly that once adopted, the use of the praenomen remained the regular form. The most mature portraits of Nero, with a thick treatment of the neck and a heavily developed jowl, are always found on coins with the praenomen.

The terminus post quem for the assumption of the praenomen is given by the cuirassed bust sestertii dated TRPOTXIPPP and the three inscriptions dated TRPXI. The terminus ante quem is fixed by the entries in the Arval Acta for 66, with the caveat, perhaps, that the titulature may have been correct only for the end of the year when the record was completed. Within these limits it is difficult to be more precise. Either the Vinician conspiracy of 66, 37 or the ceremonial reception of Tiridates at Rome during the summer of the same year 38 are equally possible occasions. But although the precise context remains obscure, the praenomen is most important chronologically and enables us to distinguish the later groups in the undated coinages.

Some varieties of obverse and reverse legend and type are characteristic of the mints at which the coinage was struck, and the chronological pattern of the issues cannot be determined until the basic mint structure is appreciated. The evidence of finds shows clearly that Rome was the sole mint for the issue of precious metals in the west, but that there were two principal mints, Rome and Lugdunum, for the aes coinages.

From these western issues we must be careful to distinguish the coinages struck by a wide range of mints in the eastern provinces. There is little difficulty over the product of city mints which employed Greek legends or of colonies which added to their Latin legends the initial letters of the name of the colony. 1 Rather less obvious are the coins with Latin legends struck by the imperial mints at Caesarea 2 and Antioch 3 and by the military mint in Moesia, 4 but each of these series is characterized by a distinctive range of reverse types.

Nero's coinage of aurei and denarii in both the dated and the undated series is remarkably uniform in style, type and content. Coins of the same uniform character seem to have circulated throughout the empire, in Italy, the east and the west. There appears to be no distinctive features of portraiture, legend, lettering or bust truncation that distinguish finds from one part of the empire from those in another. The different forms of obverse legend mark succes-

This gold and silver coinage forms a remarkably compact group, and the portrait imagines used by its die engravers are basically the same as those used for the aes of the mint of Rome. The bust truncation of aurei and denarii dated TRP IX and TRP X (Plate I, 19-20) is very close to that of the Roman aes without SC (Plates V–VI, 177ff.); the truncation of the early undated gold and silver (Plate I, 22, 23) is close to that on the Roman aes with SC struck in 64–66 (Plate VII, 200, 205); and the truncation of the gold and silver with the praenomen IMP (Plate II, 31, 65, 66) is very similar to that of Roman aes with the praenomen IMP (Plate IX, 238, 240). None of these has anything in common with the characteristic Lugdunum truncation at any stage (Plate XIII, 419ff.). The common form of bust truncation seems to have been an external factor derived from common imagines used by all the engravers at a mint. The use of common imagines shared with the Roman aes clearly points to Rome rather than Lugdunum as the place of the gold and silver die engraving establishment. 5

There is good evidence for the existence of the mint at Rome in the senatorial office of the tresviri monetales aere argento auro fiando feriundo, which is found on inscriptions down to third century a.d., 6 and in the series of mint inscriptions from Rome. 7

Rome would certainly have been the most convenient minting place for gold and silver under Nero. The chief sources for freshly mined gold and silver were the mines in the Iberian peninsula, 8 especially those in northwest Spain which were imperial property 9 at this period. The large revenue from these imperial mines would no doubt usually be turned into precious coin to meet imperial expenditure. The principal items of expenditure would be central state administration, public works and buildings, doles, donatives, the army and provincial government. The financial arrangements, however, did not repeatedly involve the transportation of large sums of money. Each province seems to have had its own provincial treasury and only the surpluses or deficits would be transferred at the end of each accounting period. 10 Apart from the maintenance of the frontier armies, the heaviest recurrent expenses, not counterbalanced by comparable local sources of revenue, must have been those for imperial activities at Rome. These were often costly 11 and Italy alone of the provinces was exempt from direct taxation. 12 Most of the precious metal coins struck from bullion stocks must have been put into circulation at Rome as payments of this kind, even though the coins may have passed through commercial channels almost immediately to various parts of the empire to settle trade accounts for imports to the capital. 13

It is of course theoretically possible that, even though the gold and silver dies were engraved centrally, and the major part of the precious coinage was struck in Rome, some aurei and denarii may have been struck at branch mints. 14 But there is no clear evidence to support such a hypothesis. The Vichy inscription 15 mentioning a soldier of cohors XVII Lugdunensis ad monetam, attributed to the time of Claudius or Nero, can quite well refer to the aes mint which continued to function at Lugdunum under the Flavians. 16 There is no need to refer it to the continued presence of the gold and silver mint, known to be at Lugdunum in a.d. 18. 17 Nor do finds of ancient dies support the hypothesis of subordinate mints. Only three such finds of dies are known for Nero. 18 One in the Museum at Arlon, found locally, is certainly the product of an ancient forger, as it is a metal mould for casting 44 denarii at a time. The other two, both in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, are obverse dies for aurei or denarii. One was "probably found in France" and the other is "said to have been found in France c. 1816," but both may very well have been used by ancient forgers. Many plated denarii are known for Nero as for all the other early emperors. 19 Most of them are in good style and some have argued that they may have been produced by official mint(s) as a measure of illicit profit for the government. 20 But whatever one's verdict on plated denarii of Claudius and earlier emperors, it is now clear that Nero's plated silver was the product of unofficial forgers. The analysis of Nero's coinages has closely defined the issues of denarii and the obverse and reverse types used in each issue. Had the plated denarii been produced under official auspices they would undoubtedly have been made in the same mint organization with the same combinations of types as the regular denarii in good silver. But whereas hybrids between issues do not occur on good denarii, they are comparatively common within the plated group, combining not only the obverse and reverse types of different issues, but sometimes even obverse and reverse types of different emperors. Whether the dies for these plated denarii were illegally appropriated from an official mint, or whether they were the work of competent private engravers, 21 there can be little doubt that the manufacture of plated denarii was the work of forgers. The places at which finds of early imperial dies have been discovered are singularly out of the way. 22 None has been found in Rome or Lyons, the two known mint cities of the early empire. Nor have any been found in other places where one would expect there to be branch mints (if such were the organization)—towns such as Trier, Arles, Amiens, London—the central location of which commended them as mint cities in the widely changed conditions of the late empire. There is nothing to show that the coins struck from these dies were made under official auspices in the localities where the dies were discovered. In only one case has it been shown that an impeccable coin was struck from one of these dies, 23 but even this die may well have fallen into the hands of forgers by appropriation from the mint after it had been used to strike official coins. And it seems most likely that the dies recovered from these scattered find spots were the property of ancient forgers.

The western aes of Nero falls into two basic types. 24 The first is characterized by a small globe at the point of Nero's bust on the obverse, and a characteristic M form of bust truncation (see Plates XIII, 432; XIV, 452). The style of portraiture of this group is quite distinctive and the varieties of obverse legend and reverse types, established by an analysis of well preserved coins with the globe (see Cat. 401–633), constitute an objective basis for attribution to this group even when the globe and form of bust truncation are not visible on worn or corroded coins.

The second type has no globe and a straighter form of bust termination (see Plate II, 71, 74). The style of portraiture is again distinct, and the analysis of well preserved coins enables us to establish the distinctive forms of obverse legends and reverse types that characterize this group (see Cat. 70–335).

The distribution of these two types in the years immediately after their issue is the basic evidence for the localization of the mints at which the two types were struck. It is not however sufficient merely to list the localities at which examples of each type are said to have been found, as this can sometimes obscure the original pattern of distribution. Single coins may have been lost at any time during the period of their continued circulation; and unusual types are liable to attract attention because they are unusual, whereas the ordinary pass unnoticed. It is therefore important to distinguish the quality of different categories of evidence, and to determine the general character of circulation in an area from the recurrent statistical pattern observed at a number of localities.

The best evidence consists of finds which accurately reflect currency circulating at a known point of time, because they can be given a secure terminus ante quem . 25 But there are comparatively few commercial hoards and stratified or closed sites which meet these rigorous canons. The next best evidence consists of the accumulated finds from a thoroughly excavated site, or the accumulated deposits recovered from a well or river bed. Such coins may have been lost at any time during their continued circulation, but it is a reasonable inference that the commonest types will have been most commonly lost; and where the finds from a site are sufficiently numerous, they should provide a reasonably accurate statistical pattern of circulation.

For regions where this quality of evidence is not available, some idea of distribution may be found by noting casual finds recorded in archaeological publications or noted in local museums. The cumulative totals of such finds may be less reliable statistically, if there has been any preference in acquiring or noting specimens of new and rare varieties or in declining badly preserved specimens of common types. Finally, in the absence of other evidence, it is often possible to form an approximate estimate of circulation from the un- provenanced collections of local museums. The general character of some collections suggests quite strongly that it is largely composed of local finds even though the museum has not kept accurate records, but such evidence must be used with great care.

So that appropriate weight can be given to each category of evidence, finds in the following paragraphs have been classified as:

A—A hoard or excavation finds with terminus ante quem of a.d. 80 or before.

B—The aggregate of coins from other excavations or deposits.

C—Casual finds.

D—Unprovenanced coins probably found locally.

For localities where there is adequate evidence from finds classified A and B, finds of other categories which cannot contribute anything further to the picture of distribution have not been cited. Where it is necessary to cite casual finds, the evidence of groups of coins which have greater statistical validity has been preferred to that of single finds.

Finds of sestertii, dupondii and asses in Britain, Upper and Lower Germany, Belgica, Lugdunensis and Raetia are almost all of the "globe" type; finds from Narbonensis are predominantly of the "globe" type; finds from Spain, Noricum, Pannonia and the area east of the Rhine and north of the Danube are divided between the "globe" and the "non-globe" type; and finds from Italy are almost all of the "non-globe" type. In the following list, coins are attributed to the "globe" and "non-globe" mint on the basis of the criteria set out in this monograph. By analyzing the varieties of coins in good condition it is possible to establish those forms of obverse legend and reverse type found exclusively at the "globe" mint, those found exclusively at the "non-globe" mint and those which occur at both mints. These criteria enable us to attribute many find coins to the appropriate mint, even when globe, aegis or bust truncation may not be visible.

This section is intended merely to indicate the pattern of circulation for each locality—not to constitute an exhaustive list of finds. It would be possible to add further entries for many localities, but they could hardly affect very significantly the overall picture.

Nero's aes consisted of asses, semisses and quadrantes in copper, and of sestertii and dupondii in orichalcum, with a limited issue of asses, semisses and quadrantes also in orichalcum. Orichalcum was originally a natural alloy, but by the middle of the first century a.d. the Romans made the alloy artificially by heating copper in a bed of calamine. The raw materials needed for the aes coinages were thus ordinary copper, copper suitable for processing into orichalcum, and calamine needed for the processing.

The principal sources for copper in the middle of the first century a.d. were the imperial mines in Spain and Cyprus. 123 In Spain the mines of Sextus Marius had been confiscated by Tiberius;124 and the Hadrianic letter to Ulpius Aelianus 125 read in conjunction with the Lex Metalli Vipascensis 126 shows clearly that the copper, silver and iron mines in established mining districts of Spain were state owned at that period; and its reference to a forma revised by Hadrian shows that the original of this lex must have been of earlier date. In Cyprus the mines seem to have been nationalized when the tribune Clodius annexed the island in 58 b.c.; 127 Augustus gave Herod a concession but retained a half interest for the Roman government; 128 and the mines near Soli were still under state ownership when Galen visited them in the second century a.d. 129

Spanish copper, called "Marianum" or "Cordubense," was especially important for the coinage, as it readily absorbed calamine and reproduced the excellence of orichalcum in making sestertii and dupondii. 130 The extensive copper workings in Cyprus were apparently less highly valued once better copper (and orichalcum) had been found in other countries, but Pliny explicitly tells us that Cypriot copper was used for the production of asses. 131

There do not seem to have been any other important copper workings in the Roman Empire at this period. The copper from Livia's mine in Gaul had enjoyed a high reputation but the supply soon gave out; 132 Sallustius' copper from Haute-Savoie was highly esteemed "next to orichalcum," but supplies only lasted for a short time; 133 and although there were also Roman copper mines near Lyons the evidence for their working is of third century date. 134 Southeast Britain had used imported copper at the time of Caesar's invasion, 135 and although copper was worked further north during the Roman occupation at Plynlimmon, the Gt. Ormes Head, Anglesy, Caernarvon and in the Dee Valley, 136 these forward areas were not under secure Roman control during Nero's principate and can hardly have been sources for the copper required by the mint. Workings of copper in Upper and Lower Germany were neither profitable nor extensive during the first century. There was prospecting of early imperial date in the poor impregnations of azurite and malachite at Blauberg in the Saar and at Kerdel; 137 but the copper workings in the ancient mines at the mouth of the Ems 138 lay beyond Roman territory under Nero. Illyria provides hardly any evidence of Roman mining and Dacia was outside Roman control at this period. There were extensive ancient copper workings at Majdanpek in the mountains of Moesia, but Davies has shown that the mines were abandoned when the Romans consolidated the Danube bank. 139

The principal sources of calamine, the second mineral required in the production of orichalcum, 140 are also mentioned by Pliny. It came from overseas, was formerly also found in Campania and now in the territory of Bergamo. "It is also reported to have been recently discovered in the province of Germany," 141 a reference to the important mine at Stollberg which subsequently became the principal center of bronze production in the Empire. 142 These deposits were discovered some time between a.d. 57 and 77. 143

Aes of the non-globe type circulated almost exclusively in Italy. There is no reason to doubt that the mint which produced this coinage was in fact the mint of Rome, for which we have repeated authorities in the senatorial office of the tresviri monetales, which continues to be found on inscriptions down to the third century a.d., 144 and in the series of mint inscriptions from Rome. 145 The city was the obvious center for supplying coinage to Italy, and the vast urban population (estimated at a million at this period 146 ) must have created a major demand for small change. In so far as the mint used freshly mined metal, there is no reason to doubt Pliny's statement that it used copper from Cyprus for its asses, and copper from Corduba as the basic constituent for the orichalcum of its sestertii and dupondii, 147 the alloy itself being made by heating the copper in a bed of calamine which presumably came from the Bergamo deposits. 148

Aes of the globe type enjoyed an almost exclusive circulation in Gaul, Britain, the Rhine and Vindelicia south of the Danube, and must have been struck in one of these western provinces. The use of an important second mint in the west was fairly general imperial practice during the first century. Vespasian continued to use the same mint with the same globe and characteristic bust truncation for a fairly large group of aes which circulated primarily in the same western provinces. 149

Sydenham 150 and Laffranchi 151 have suggested that "westernstyle" groups can be distinguished among the Agrippa asses and Claudius' aes, although the detailed evidence of site finds has not yet been analyzed to settle finally whether or not their criteria are sound. 152 This mint seems to have been the successor to the mint at Lugdunum which issued the extensive Altar series up to the early years of Tiberius,153 a series which constituted the main currency of the Rhine frontier at the time, and again struck semisses of the Altar type under Claudius.154Lyons was in fact an eminently suitable place for a western aes mint, in a perfectly safe area yet conveniently situated to supply the small change needed by the frontier armies of the Rhine, Britain and Upper Danube, and equally accessible to the principal sources of copper.

Under Nero freshly mined copper for the globe type sestertii and dupondii in orichalcum would almost certainly come from Corduba; and from Spain again, or possibly from Cyprus, would come the freshly mined copper for the asses and semisses. The calamine needed to manufacture the copper into orichalcum may have come from Bergamo, but it is far more likely that it came from the newly discovered mines at Stollberg. Although Spain was an extremely important source for the freshly mined copper used for Nero's western aes, Nero's mint was certainly not situated there. We have seen above that finds of Nero's aes are not common in Spain and the Iberian peninsula was not exclusively or even predominantly provided with aes of Nero's globe type. For similar reasons the Danubian provinces also can be excluded, and neither Britain nor Africa had the central position required. Germany remains a possibility, but was not conveniently placed between the sources of freshly mined copper and some of the areas ultimately supplied, notably Raetia, West Gaul and the Rhone valley. Gaul on the other hand would have enjoyed the great advantage of centrality and Lyons, its capital, enjoyed that advantage par excellence. Lyons, as Strabo tells us, "commands Gaul like an acropolis." 155 It lies at the center of the river communications of the country and had been made the center of Agrippa's road system. It was conveniently near the Rhine-Danube reentrant and all the normal routes from South Spain to the Rhine, North and West Gaul, Britain and Raetia would part ways here. 156

Lyons, moreover, had a long tradition as a mint city. Antony had struck quinarii there as governor in 42/41 b.c., and signed them with the name of the town. 157 We have Strabo's explicit statement for the existence there of a mint for gold and silver under Tiberius.158 It was the mint which produced the extensive Altar series under Augustus and Tiberius and the commemorative Altar semisses struck under Claudius. 159 Its position as a mint city is further attested by several inscriptions from the immediate environs, 160 and by the presence of an urban cohort designated "ad monetam." 161 Under Tiberius, no doubt, the troops must have played an important part in the security arrangements for the minting of gold and silver at Lyons; but even after the striking of coinage in the precious metals was transferred to Rome, 162 Lyons remained the only city in the provinces, apart from Carthage, to be garrisoned by an urban cohort. Its presence was first mentioned by Tacitus in a.d. 21 when Acilius Aviola used it to check the revolt of the Andecavi. 163 Cohort XVIII formed the garrison in 69 164 and I Flavia Urbana took its place by 73. 165 This Lugdunum cohort was expressly called COH XVII LVGDVNENSIS AD MONETAM in the dedication to Lucius Fufius at Equestre, an inscription which cannot be dated before the time of Claudius because the cohort is XVII nor very much later because the man had no cognomen. 166 There is therefore good reason for attributing the globe type aes of the mid-first century to Lyons, and for regarding it as a successor to the important western aes coinage of the Altar series. 167

For the first ten years of Nero's principate the gold and silver struck at Rome bore tribunician dates TRP to TRP X, which clearly differentiated successive issues. During the first tribunician year to December 55 three aureus and denarius types were issued—one commemorating the deification of Claudius, the second with heads of Nero and Agrippina facing (Plate I, 2) and the third with jugate busts of Nero and Agrippina (Plate I, 3).

In TRP II a new obverse type was introduced (Plate 1, 4) which remained basically unchanged throughout the rest of the dated gold and silver coinage. Its legend was NERO CAESAR AVG IMP, and Nero's head was shown facing right with the hair drawn down over his forehead. During the course of these dated issues slightly older portraits of Nero were gradually substituted, and in the issue of the ninth tribunician year Nero's hair was shown for the first time raised in tiers above his forehead, the "in gradus formata" style described by Suetonius. 1 The reverse type of both the aurei and the denarii dated TRP II was EX SC within an oak wreath, the corona civica, and an outside legend PONTIF MAX TRP II PP completed Nero's titles from the obverse. In this year there was a rare issue of gold quinarii with the usual quinarius reverse type of Victoria. The aurei and denarii dated TRP III, III and V retained the same obverse and reverse types and merely altered the tribunician year in the reverse legend. All coins dated TRP VI included in their reverse legend COS IIII Nero's fourth consulship which began January 1, 60. 2

In the issues dated TRP VII three new reverse types of Virtus, Ceres and Roma (Plate 1, 11, 12, 13) were introduced to replace that of the Corona Civica. Coins of the new Virtus and Ceres types seem to be far commoner than either the old Corona Civica or the new Roma type in the issues of this year. 3 Indeed it is only when examples of the Corona Civica type and Roma type are taken together that their numbers equal those of either the Virtus or of the Ceres type dated TRP VII. It is interesting to note that the reverse legend of the Corona Civica type reads counterclockwise and so did that of the new Roma type, whereas the reverse legends of the Virtus and Ceres types read clockwise. This might possibly suggest that the new Virtus and Ceres types were introduced at the beginning of the year and struck alongside the Corona Civica types, and that the Roma type was introduced to replace the Corona Civica type later in the year. In the TRP VIII issue the three types of Virtus, Roma and Ceres were struck in both gold and silver; in the TRP VIIII issue all three types were again struck in gold, but Virtus and Roma alone in silver; in the TRP X issue only two types, Virtus and Roma, were struck, in both gold and silver. 4

Cat. 1–21, 35–53. Plate I.

The undated gold and silver is a coinage struck on a reduced weight standard, on which the portraits are all later than on the dated series. The legends NERO CAESAR AVGVSTVS and NERO CAESAR, both of which lack the praenomen IMP, must belong to the period before mid-a.d. 66. No significant chronological distinction can however be drawn between these two forms. Except on plated denarii, NERO CAESAR was merely used with the AVGVSTVS GERMAN ICVS type on which the reverse legend completed the titulature from the obverse. After Nero assumed the praenomen IMP in mid-66 there were two forms of obverse legend on the gold and silver: IMP NERO CAESAR AVGVSTVS and IMP NERO CAESAR AVG PP. The reverse types in the issue with IMP NERO CAESAR AVGVSTVS were taken directly from, and must therefore have directly followed, the preceding issue with NERO CAESAR AVGVSTVS; but on denarii with IMP NERO CAESAR AVG PP in addition to the types that had been used with NERO CAESAR AVGVSTVS and IMP NERO CAESAR AVGVSTVS there were three new reverse types peculiar to the issue: the anepigraphic type of an eagle between two standards; and fresh varieties of the Roma and Salus types with the legends in the reverse field. IMP NERO CAESAR AVG PP must thus have been the latest form of reverse legend on Nero's gold and silver.

Issue 1 of the undated gold and silver coinage on the reformed standard had the obverse legends NERO CAESAR, and NERO CAESAR AVGVSTVS. In gold there were eight distinct reverse types: Augustus Germanicus; AugustusAugusta; Jupiter Custos; seated Roma; Salus; the Temple of Vesta; the Temple of Janus; and Concordia Augusta.

The first six of these types were regularly struck in silver too during this issue; but while the types of Janus temple and of Concordia Augusta are known in silver, they are extremely rare, are not represented in hoards, and were certainly not substantive denarius types. In this we seem to have evidence of an initial production of gold in two reverse types (accompanied by a token emission of silver) continuing the "two reverse type" pattern of the gold in TRP X, before the productive capacity was expanded. Among the other aurei and denarii with this obverse legend, the reverse types of Jupiter Custos and Salus are by far the commonest. These two subsequently became the sole substantive reverse types in issues 2 and 3 a, and it seems fairly certain that they continued to be struck in Issue 1, after the other reverse types were discontinued. We can therefore distinguish three phases within the issue:

1a. Janus and Concordia types, with substantive issues of aurei (but accompanied by a token issue of denarii).

1b. The six reverse types of Augustus Germanicus, AugustusAugusta, Jupiter Custos, Roma, Salus and Vesta with substantive issues in both gold and silver.

1c. The continuing issue of Jupiter Custos and Salus types in both gold and silver.

Cat. 22–29, 54–61, PLATES I–II.

Issue 2 had the obverse legend IMP NERO CAESAR AVGVSTVS. Its aurei were struck in two reverse types, Jupiter Custos and Salus, both of which were taken over directly from the preceding issue. Besides these two types of Jupiter Custos and Salus, the denarii also used the seated Roma type from the preceding issue, but it is extremely rare and cannot have been struck in any numbers.

Cat. 30, 31, 62–64. Plate II.

Issue 3 had the obverse legend IMP NERO CAESAR AVG PP. The aurei with this obverse legend continued to use the types of Jupiter Custos and Salus unchanged from the previous two issues. The denarii followed the aurei in using these two types, but they also had three further types which were struck solely in silver: a new anepigraphic type of an eagle between two standards and modified forms of both Salus and Roma types, now with their legends across the reverse field and not in the exergue. We can therefore distinguish two stages:

3a. Aurei and denarii with the reverse types of Jupiter Custos and Salus continued without change from Issues 1 and 2.

Cat. 32, 33, 65, 66. Plate II.

3b. Denarii alone in two substantive types of Salus with its legend across the field rather than in the exergue and of the new eagle and standards.

Cat. 67–69. Plate II.

Throughout Nero's reign the issues of gold and silver ran closely parallel to each other; but a number of minor discrepancies between them clearly suggests that the denarii were in fact struck immediately after the similar aurei of each issue. It has been noted that in the dated group the Ceres type, which was abandoned during the issue dated TRP VIIII, is found on the aurei of that year but not on the denarii. Similarly in the undated series both Janus temple and Concordia Augusta types are comparatively common on the gold of the first issue, but on the silver the Janus temple type is not found and the Concordia Augusta is extremely rare. In the later issues with IMP NERO CAESAR AVG PP, the fresh forms of reverse type were introduced during the issue of the denarii, and have left no trace on the aurei.

It is important to distinguish from the main series a group of unofficial plated denarii, 5 as the inclusion of some of these in older catalogues has tended to obscure the pattern of the silver issues. These plated forgeries are known in both the dated and the undated series. The obverse and reverse types were almost always those used for the regular denarii. Their dies were often in quite good style and may sometimes have been official dies illegally appropriated from the mint; but the forgers did not hesitate to use obverse and reverse dies in combinations that were quite unknown on the regular coinage. One plated denarius muled an obverse of Nero with the common PONTIF MAXIM reverse type of Tiberius. The obverse legend NERO CAESAR, confined on regular denarii to the reverse type of Augustus Germanicus which completed the legend from the obverse, was used on plated denarii with several other reverse types of the undated series. On regular coins IMP NERO CAESAR AVGVSTVS was only found on Salus denarii with the reverse legend SALVS in the exergue, but on a plated specimen it was muled with a die that had SALVS across the reverse field. Regular denarii dated TRP VI included Nero's fourth consulship in their reverse PONTIF MAX TRP VI COS IIII PP, but plated denarii had PONTIF MAX VI PP alone, omitting all reference to Nero's consulship as the issue TRP II to TRP V had done. 6

The aes of Nero without SC has long been a puzzle. Recent research has thrown considerable doubt on the older view that down to the time of Gallienus the Roman Imperial coinage was controlled by a dyarchy of Senate and Emperor, and that SC and its absence denoted the product of a Senatorial and Imperial mint respectively. 1 It has become increasingly plain that the distinction was rather one of form than of final intent. 2 Nonetheless SC was given a prominent place on the aes coinage of the Julio-Claudian period and Nero was the first emperor to omit it from any considerable number of his bronze and copper coins, an omission which is the more remarkable in view of the way he introduced a special senatorial reference EXSC on the gold and silver at the beginning of his principate. 3

A careful examination and analysis of the coins which seem to lack SC enables us to define more closely the range and scope of the issues which genuinely omitted it. When worn and tooled examples are excluded, it is clear that the aes is invariably the product of the mint of Rome, and falls into two compact chronological groups. The first consists of copper asses, semisses and quadrantes. The second, slightly later than the first, consists of orichalcum sestertii, dupondii, asses and quadrantes. But each of these denominations, both in copper and orichalcum, is subsequently struck by Nero with the traditional SC on the reverse.

The earliest group consists of asses in copper without SC of the Apollo and Genius reverse types. All the copper asses of these types at the mint of Rome were struck without SC:

Cat. 242

Obv.: NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM PM TRP IMP PP Head bare r.

Rev.: Nero laureate in flowing robes of Apollo Citharoedus walking r., l. holding lyre, r. playing it. No legend or SC.

Plate IX

Cat. 243

Obv.: NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GERM PM TRP IMP PP Head bare r.

Rev.: As 242.

Cat. 244

Obv.: As 221 but head bare l.

Rev.: As 243.

Cat. 245

Obv.: NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GERM PM TRP IMP Head bare r.

Rev.: As 242.

Cat. 246

Obv.: NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERMANIC Head bare r.

Rev.: As 242 but with legend PONTIF MAX TRP IMP PP

Plate IX

Cat. 247

Obv.: As 246 but head bare l.

Rev.: As 246.

Cat. 248

Obv.: NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERMAN Head bare r.

Rev.: As 246.

Cat. 249

Obv.: NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERMA

Head bare r.

Rev.: As 246.

Cat. 250

Obv.: As 249 but head bare l.

Rev.: As 246.

Plate IX

Cat. 251

Obv.: NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM PM TRP IMP PP Head bare l.

Rev.: GENIO AVGVSTI

Genius standing l. by lighted altar, holding patera and cornucopiae.

Cat. 252

Obv.: NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GERM PM TRP IMP PP Head bare r.

Rev.: As 251.

Cat. 253

Obv.: NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GERM PM TRP IMP P Head bare r.

Rev.: As 251.

Cat. 254

Obv.: NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GER PM TRP IMP PP Head bare r.

Rev.: As 246.

Cat. 255

Obv.: As 254.

Rev.: As 251.

Plate IX

Mattingly and Sydenham described the rare coins with the anepigraphic reverse type of Apollo as dupondii with an As type, 18 but they are undoubtedly copper asses. Specimens which are not patinated have the normal red color of copper, and spectrographic analysis has confirmed this for the British Museum example. (Nero's dupondii at both Rome and Lugdunum were always struck in orichalcum). The weights of the anepigraphic asses range from 11.42 to 12.59 gm., which is well below that of the dupondii without SC but very close to that of the other copper asses without SC.

The Apollo and Genius copper asses without SC are thoroughly Roman in style and undoubtedly circulated in the neighborhood of Rome. One Genius As was found in excavations at Rome; four Apollo asses have been found in the Tiber; and a fifth came from the city of Rome. 19 Information about coin finds in the western provinces is generally far more complete than for Italy, but has not yet yielded a single example. 20

The issue of these copper asses was not especially small. I have found 34 obverse dies used in conjunction with five reverse dies of the anepigraphic Apollo type, 8 of the GENIO AVGVSTI, and 19 of the Apollo PONTIF MAX TRP IMP PP type. There are very few die links and none which connects different forms of obverse legend or different reverse types; pieces from identical dies are comparatively unusual; and there are almost as many obverse as reverse dies.

The evidence of portraiture shows conclusively that the copper asses without SC were struck before the ordinary copper asses of the mint of Rome. When Nero's head is shown in right profile on the copper asses without SC, 21 the hair is always "in gradus formata." 22 It is distinctly raised from his forehead and all the curls fringing the forehead as far back as the ear are shown with this forward curve. The portrait is close to that on the aurei and denarii dated TRP VIII and VIIII (a.d. 61/62 to 62/63) 23 and probably not so late as on those dated TRP X (a.d. 63/64). 24 The treatment of the rest of the hair has many points of contact with the later dated aurei and denarii. It is generally flat, 25 sometimes with a striking zonal treatment with thick rope-like strands. 26 This seems inspired by the dated gold and silver of a.d. 61/62 to a.d. 63/64 27 but is less advanced than the spirited rendering of the earliest undated gold 28 or the copper asses with SC. 29 The bust truncation often has, in greater or lesser degree, 30 the characteristic form of the dated gold and silver. 31

These copper asses without SC, moreover, clearly preceded the orichalcum As series with the same reverse types of Genius and Apollo (both with and without SC). There is a striking development of portraiture within the orichalcum As series, 32 but no comparable progression in the issue of copper asses without SC; and although the copper asses have many portraits that are quite close to those on the earlier orichalcum asses, they show nothing comparable to the later orichalcum portraits. The characteristic bust truncation of the dated aurei and denarii can be seen on several copper asses, but where there are traces in the orichalcum series it is only present in a residual and minor degree. The treatment of the hair on the orichalcum asses is generally in higher relief and shows more naturalism; and Lugdunum, which began its aes production some time after the mint of Rome, used as its model the reverse of an orichalcum Apollo As, not that of a copper Apollo As without SC. 33

The parallel issue of copper semisses without SC consists of the following:

Cat. 303

Obv.: NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM PM TRP IMP PP Head laur. r.

Rev.: No legend. Roma helmeted and draped seated l. on cuirass, r. holding wreath and resting l. hand on parazonium.

Cat. 304

Obv.: NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERMANIC Head laur. r.

Rev.: As 303 but with legend PON MAX TRP IMP PP

Plate XII

Cat. 305

Obv.: NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM Head laur. r.

Rev.: As 304.

Cat. 306

Obv.: As 303.

Rev.: CERTAMEN QVINQ ROM CO

Gaming table ornamented by two griffins. On it, urn l. and wreath r. Against its central leg rests a round shield.

Cat. 307

Obv.: As 303.

Rev.: As 306 but CERTAM QVINQ ROM CO

Plate XII

These copper semisses without SC are easily distinguished from the normal orichalcum semisses at Rome by the size of their flans and dies, their comparatively heavy weight, and the reddish copper appearance of the metal. Their weight range is clearly higher than that of the Lugdunum copper semisses. Their obverse portraits are unmistakably Roman in style and idiom, and show about the same stage of development as the copper asses without SC. 41 Nero's hair is always shown "in gradus," but sometimes the tier is only at its first stage and has not been formalized into the distinctive forward curving arch. 42 The influence of the dated gold and silver 43 can usually be detected in the bust truncation and sometimes Nero's head is small and fails to make full use of the obverse field within the legend. 44

A further indication of their approximately contemporary date is given by two overstrikes in the British Museum 45 and in Stockholm. Both seem to be copper asses of Nero without SC overstruck by the same pair of dies. In each case the reverse overstriking die is of the Genius type used for asses without SC, and the obverse overstriking die is of the type used at Rome in the issue of copper semisses without SC. Mattingly attributed the British Museum example to Lugdunum 46 and implied that it belonged to the opening phase of the new mint. He wrote 'The obverse die is very small and the head is in the Roman style: the reverse is of normal size and of Lugdunum style. Traces of the original coin (a dupondius of the mint of Rome) with rev. Temple of Janus obv … CLAVD CAESAR AVG G … still remain." We can, however, confidently attribute all the component parts of the overstrike to the mint of Rome. It has a copper flan of 14.94 gm.—the metal having been established by spectrographic analysis. As it is not of orichalcum, it can not have been originally a dupondius. Yet for an As, the highest denomination struck in copper, it is heavy but within the weight range of the copper asses without SC. Of its original obverse type, "CLAVD CAESAR AVG G …" and "… AR AVG GER PM TR P IMP P …" can be read on the London and Stockholm pieces respectively—a normal legend for Nero's copper asses without SC. Little remains of the original reverse type but there seem to be traces of a standing figure which may well have been that of Apollo citharoedus. The overstriking obverse die is a copper semis obverse die of the Roman mint: NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM PM TR P PP, a youthful, bare, head of Nero to right. The overstriking reverse die is of the GENIO AVGVSTI type without SC, a type found exclusively at Rome.

Mattingly's attribution to Lugdunum seems to be based on his belief that the Genius type was normally struck at Rome only in orichalcum. 47 He did not realize that there was a series of copper asses at Rome of the Genius type omitting SC and his description of the overstrike does not make it clear that the type generally lacks SC.

Nero instituted the Certamen Quinquennale in a.d. 60, 48 but that date merely gives a terminus post quem for the certamen semisses; and the use of the type was not restricted to the years in which the certamen was celebrated. 49

The parallel issue of copper quadrantes without SC consists of the following:

Cat. 336

Obv.: NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM

A helmet placed r. on column; against the cippus rests round shield; behind, spear slanting upward to r.

Rev.: PON M TR P IMP PP

A laurel branch.

Cat. 337 50

Obv.: As 336 but legend NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG

Rev.: As 336 but legend GER PON MAX TRP IMP PP

Plate XII

The coin in the Capitol Museum came from excavations in Rome, but the other examples are unprovenanced. Although these quadrantes have no portraits and thus give little indication in themselves of their date and place of minting, finds suggest that the quadrantes with SC in both copper and orichalcum belong to the mint of Rome; and the use of IMP as a cognomen throughout shows that the whole series falls before mid-a.d. 66. The pattern of their issues generally shows the same development as that of the asses at Rome and they seem to be parallel to them.

The second group of aes without SC consisted of sestertii, dupondii, laureate and radiate head asses and quadrantes, all in orichalcum. The different denominations of this group seem to belong to the same general period, and to have been struck fairly soon after the issue of asses and semisses without SC in copper.

An examination of the dies of the sestertii without SC has made it possible to define far more clearly the extent of the group. It is necessary, of course, to exclude all sestertii on which the letters SC have been deliberately tooled out and those where the SC may have disappeared through wear and corrosion. Among the sestertii that seem genuinely to omit SC, it is usually possible to substantiate the same reverse die from several coins, none of which has any trace at all of SC. Several of these reverse dies belong to a die-linked chain in which all the reverse dies similarly omit SC. There is inevitably an element of uncertainty when a reverse die without SC is known merely from a single coin and is not die-linked to other sestertii without SC; but dies of all the main reverse types of sestertii omitting SC—Adlocutio, Annona, Congiarium and Decursio (showing Nero riding right accompanied by two foot soldiers)—are firmly placed in die-linked groups.

Cat. 70

Obv.: NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM PM TRP IMP PP Head laur. r. aegis.

Rev.: ADLOCVT COH (in exergue)

Nero standing l. on platform accompanied by praetorian prefect, addressing three soldiers, two of whom hold standards.

Cat. 71

Obv.: As 70.

Rev.: ANNONA AVGVSTI CERES

Ceres seated l. holding torch and ears of corn; before her Annona standing holding a cornucopiae.

Plate II

Cat. 72

Obv.: As 70.

Rev.: CONG II DAT POP

To l., a high platform on which Nero sits; in front, a seated official distributes largess to man ascending ladder.

Cat. 73

Obv.: As 70.

Rev.: CONG II DAT POP

To r. a low platform on which Nero sits l.; beside him, the prefect standing; in front, soldier distributes largess to a citizen.

Cat. 74

Obv.: As 70.

Rev.: DECVRSIO (in exergue)

Nero on horseback galloping r., preceded and followed by a foot soldier.

Plate II

Cat. 75

Obv.: As 70.

Rev.: DECVRSIO (in exergue)

Nero on horseback galloping r. followed by horseman holding vexillum.

Cat. 76

Obv.: As 70 but head laur. l.

Rev.: As 70.

Plate II

Cat. 77

Obv.: As 76.

Rev.: As 71.

Cat. 78

Οbν.: As 76.

Rev.: As 74.

Plate III

Cat. 79

Obv.: NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GERM PM TRP IMP PP Head laur. r. aegis.

Rev.: As 74.

Cat. 80

Obv.: As 79.

Rev.: As 75.

Cat. 81

Obv.: As 79 but head laur. l.

Rev.: As 70.

Cat. 82

Obv.: As 81.

Rev.: As 72 but CONG II DAT POP R

Cat. 83

Obv.: NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GER PM TRP IMP PP Head laur. r.

Rev.: As 74.

Most of the sestertii without SC are unprovenanced, although one of the DECVRSIO type showing Nero accompanied by two foot soldiers was found at Ostia. 54 There is, however, no doubt from general considerations of their style and idiom that they were products of the mint of Rome. Heads in right profile invariably show traces of the aegis in front of Nero's bust; this is frequently seen on sestertii at Rome but never at Lugdunum which always had the globe. The obverse legends often use the abbreviations CLAVDIVS and GERM, which are repeatedly found at Rome but never at Lugdunum. The bust truncation is closely similar to that on many coins of the Roman mint, and is quite different from the characteristic M truncation of Lugdunum. Though most of their reverse types were used at both Rome and Lugdunum in the SC series, the type of DECVRSIO with Nero accompanied by two foot soldiers was used exclusively at Rome.

The condition and state of wear of several pieces clearly show that the group passed into general circulation as ordinary sestertii, whatever the original purpose of the issue had been.

The reverse types of these sestertii without SC were all early types at the mint of Rome. No authenticated piece without SC has the praenomen IMP in Nero's obverse titulature; and these reverse types were never employed at Rome with the praenomen IMP, even in an SC series. This places them all before the middle of a.d. 66 when Nero took the praenomen "imperator" into his titulature.

Fig. 1. Sestertii Without SC Rome Issue II

Sestertii without SC nearly always had the comparatively rare forms of obverse legend: NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM PM TRP IMP PP and NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GERM PM TRP IMP PP

The most common form of obverse legend on SC sestertii without the praenomen IMP at the Roman mint: NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GER PM TRP IMP PP occurs only once, and the fairly common form: NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GER PM TRP IMP PP is never found on sestertii that omit SC.

The portraits on the sestertii without SC are invariably early for the aes, but seem to be closer to the orichalcum asses without SC than to that of the copper asses without SC. The obverse portraits in right profile always showed Nero's hair "in gradus formata," sometimes in a pronounced forward arch, but at other times with the front curl bending upward back over itself in a less advanced way. 55 Some obverse dies showed Nero's hair in thick rope-like strands, a treatment closely paralleled in the obverse of an orichalcum As without SC.

Sometimes the engraver did not make full use of the field for his obverse portrait; and sometimes the letters of the obverse legend were badly spaced and crowded at the end. This strongly suggests the product of an engraver unaccustomed to work in the dimensions of a sestertius die and with no satisfactory models to copy. One obverse die used with two reverse dies omitting SC was also used on a uniface piece. 56 All this very strongly suggests an early place in Nero's aes issues.

The weight standard of these sestertii without SC affords further evidence of their early date. The sestertius standard dropped steadily during the later Julio-Claudian period. The weights of the sestertii without SC cover a fairly wide range but fall between 26 and 28.5 gm., below the main Claudian range (28 to 30.5 gm.) and above Nero's sestertii with the praenomen IMP (24.5 to 26 gm.), but in the upper reaches of Nero's main sestertius series with SC at Rome (24 to 28.5 gm.). 57

The parallel issue of dupondii without SC is known from the following:

Cat. 177

Obv.: NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM PM TRP IMP PP Head bare r.

Rev.: VICTORIA AVGVSTI No SC or mark of value.

Victoria draped, flying l., r. holding wreath, l. a palm.

Plate V

Cat. 178

Obv.: As 177 but head bare l.

Rev.: As 177.

Cat. 179

Obv.: As 177 but head laur. r.

Rev.: As 177.

Plate VI

Cat. 180

Obv.: NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GERM PM TRP IMP PP Head laur. r.

Rev.: No legend, SC or mark of value.

Front view of Macellum Magnum.

Plate VI

Plate VI

Cat. 181

Obv.: NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM PM TRP IMP PP Head rad. r.

Rev.: As 177.

Plate VI

Cat. 182

Obv.: NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM PM TRP IMP P Head rad. l.

Rev.: As 177.

Cat. 183

Obv.: NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GERM PM TRP IMP PP Head rad. l.

Rev.: SECVRITAS AVGVSTI No SC or mark of value.

Securitas std. r. on throne, l. holding sceptre, r. elbow resting on back of throne.

Plate VI

Cat. 184

Obv.: NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GERM PM TRP IMP P Head rad. r.

Rev.: As 180.

Plate VI

Plate VI

Cat. 185

Obv.: As 184.

Rev.: As 177.

Plate VII

Cat. 186

Obv.: NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GER PM TRP IMP PP Head rad. r.

Rev.: As 180.

Plate VII

Cat. 187

Obv.: As 186.

Rev.: As 183.

Plate VII

Cat. 188

Obv.: As 186.

Rev.: As 177.

Plate VII

There is no evidence from site finds to establish the areas in which the dupondii without SC circulated, but their affinities of type and style clearly show that they were the product of the mint of Rome.

The VICTORIA AVGVSTI type shows victory flying left (with no indication of a ground line) holding a wreath and a palm and with her right leg well forward and clear of her drapery. 63 This is the representation of victory to left which was invariably used in the normal SC dupondius series at Rome. 64 The Lugdunum type was quite distinct. It showed victory walking (always showing a ground line) with her left leg straight in a line with her body and her drapery billowing backward shrouding her right leg in its folds. 65

SECVRITAS AVGVSTI is represented in two distinct ways on the dupondii without SC. Sometimes she is fully draped in a thin chiton, the presence of which can easily be seen, even on worn specimens, by the folds of its overlap. 66 On others she is shown naked to the waist, round which her garments are drawn in heavy folds. 67 Both representations were used on SC dupondii at Rome, 68 but only the first was employed at Lugdunum.

On the anepigraphic Macellum dupondii the steps are always shown inside a regular rectangular encasement, and the steps themselves are flanked at each side by an unmistakable baluster. 69 In slightly varied forms this was the regular representation of the steps at Rome. 70 At Lugdunum, however, the encasement of the steps became formalized into a quasi-triangular representation narrowing at the top. 71 The position of the balusters was still indicated, but the engravers seem to have lost all clear idea of their function.

On the dupondii without SC seven of the ten obverse dies show Nero's head radiate. In the main SC series Rome always employed the radiate and Lugdunum the laureate head. The three exceptional dies on dupondii without SC with the bare and laureate heads have no Lugdunum affinities. Their obverse legends NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM PM TR P IMP PP and NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GERM PM TR P IMP PP belong exclusively to Rome, and their bust truncation was quite distinct from the characteristic Lugdunum form.

The portraits on the dupondii without SC are the youngest ones on that denomination under Nero. They all show Nero's hair "in gradus formata" along the whole line of his forehead and must be placed about the period of the aurei and denarii dated TRP VIIII and X. But the arch of Nero's front hair is not fully developed into the forward curve of most of the portraits in the main SC series. 72 The two laureate heads retain a zonal treatment of the hair similar to that on the copper asses without SC; the bare head has many points in common with that issue; and the radiate heads are generally close to the portraits on the sestertii without SC. On all the obverse dies there are distinct traces of the lingering influence of the old bust truncation of the dated aurei and denarii. 73

The metal in every case seems to be the normal orichalcum, which was used for the main SC dupondius series, and spectrographic analysis has confirmed this for the pieces in the British Museum. Their weights cover a very large range and are rather erratic. Two examples in Oxford and Paris weigh more than 20 gm. A frequency table shows that the general weight range of these dupondii without SC is virtually the same as that of the Claudian SC dupondii, but slightly higher than the earliest group of Nero's dupondii with SC and the mark of value īī. There is, however, a considerable overlap, and the weights of the dupondii without SC do not remove them into a category apart. 74

The weight range of the later dupondii with SC alone is slightly lower again than that of dupondii with SC and the mark of value īī. There is evidence of a rise in the value of orichalcum in these years, and during the issue of orichalcum asses there was a marked lowering of the weight standard, later portraits always occurring on asses of lower weight. The natural explanation of the slightly higher weight range of the dupondii without SC, is that they are slightly earlier than the main Roman issue with SC and the mark of value īī. Mattingly's figure of 18.46 gm. (284.86 grains) as the average weight of 5 dupondii without SC seems to be an unfortunate misprint. 75 His average is considerably higher than the individual weights of any of the five coins which he can have used. The average of the three pieces described in the Catalogue is 16.47 gm.; and if we include two dupondii without SC, whose weights are recorded in the British Museum's cast collection, the average comes to 16.21 gm. (250.2 grains).

Equally significant are the reverse types. Dupondii without SC never have the praenomen imperator 76 themselves, nor are the same types subsequently used in an SC series with the praenomen. This is further evidence that these types are indeed the early dupondius types of the mint of Rome, and reinforces the evidence of portraiture and weight that the dupondii without SC preceded the main issue.

Closely associated with the other orichalcum denominations without SC are the orichalcum asses without SC:

Cat. 257

Obv.: NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERMANICVS Head laur. r.

Rev.: PONTIF MAX TR POT IMP PP No SC or mark of value. Nero laur. advancing r. in the flowing robes of Apollo citharoedus, l. hand holding a lyre and r. playing it.

Plate IX

Plate X

Plate X

Cat. 258

Obv.: As 257.

Rev.: GENIO AVGVSTI No SC or mark of value.

Genius standing l.; l. holding cornucopiae, r. patera.

Plate X

Cat. 259

Obv.: NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERMANICVS Head rad. r.

Rev.: As 257.

Cat. 260

Obv.: NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GERMANIC

Head rad. r.

Rev.: As 257.

Plate X

Cat. 261

Obv.: NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GERM PM TRP IMP PP Head rad. r.

Rev.: As 258.

Plate X

Fig. 2. Orichalcum Asses Without SC Rome Issue II

The laureate head asses without SC 78 constitute a closely dielinked group. The radiate head asses without SC 79 are not linked with this group but seem to be associated closely with it. As a group, the orichalcum asses without SC follow the copper asses without SC and precede the main issue of orichalcum asses with SC and the mark of value ī. The stage of their development is shown by the advance in treatment between A341 and A342, two die-linked obverse dies. A341 still shows Nero's hair in strong rope-like strands as on some of the copper asses without SC. But A342, 80 while not much more developed in age, heralds the new approach of the main aes series 81 in its careful rendering of Nero's curls.

During the course of the main series of orichalcum asses with SC and ī there was a reduction in the weight standard of the denomination, and coins of lower weight are invariably found with the later portraits. Plotted against the weights of the main series, the orichalcum asses without SC are all comparatively high, and must belong to the period before the weight standard was reduced. 82 As with the other denominations, the combined evidence of portraiture and weight suggests clearly that the orichalcum asses without SC preceded the main series.

It is interesting to note that the group without SC seems to be quite separate from the main issue with SC and ī; and no die links have yet been noted between the two groups. Quite a number of coins, however, were struck without SC, 83 and some obverse dies remained in use after the development of a die flaw. The flaw in A343 can be seen clearly on the example in Copenhagen and at a later stage on the coins in the BM, Paris and Vienna. 84 The flaw which can be seen on the coins in Milan and Glasgow struck from A344 had deteriorated further before the coin in Naples was struck from the same obverse die.

The rare quadrantes in orichalcum without SC and without any mark of value should also be attributed to this second group:

Cat. 338

Obv.: NERO CLAV CAESAR AVG GER

Helmet placed r. on column; against the cippus rests a round shield; behind, spear slanting upward to r.

Rev.: PON M TRP IMP PP

Laurel branch.

Plate XII

Cat. 339

Obv.: As 338 but legend NERO CLA CAE AVG GERM

Rev.: As 338 but legend PM TR P IMP PP

Cat. 340

Obv.: As 338 but legend NERO CLA CAE AVG GER