Very Rare Balkan As

CNG 99, Lot: 601. Estimate $1000. Sold for $650. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Nero. AD 54-68. Æ As (28.5mm, 9.20 g, 12h). Balkan mint (Perinthus?). Struck circa AD 64-66. NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM P M, laureate head right / Eagle standing facing, head right, on globe, wings spread; S C across field. Cf. MacDowall, “Two Roman Countermarks of AD 68”, NC 1960, p. 108, III; RIC I (old edition) 439; RIC I (new edition) –, but see discussion on pp. 186-7; RPC I 1762 var. (obv. legend). Good VF, green and gray patina, minor roughness. Very rare, with the majority of known specimens housed in museums.

This reverse type is derived from the Divus Augustus Pater series. Other asses from this mint adopt the Neptune type of Agrippa struck under Caligula.