288, Lot: 392. Estimate $150. Sold for $220. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Nero. AD 54-68. Æ Sestertius (34mm, 25.82 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 64. Laureate bust right, wearing aegis / Triumphal arch surmounted by statue of emperor in quadriga accompanied by Pax and Victory, flanked by two soldiers (torch bearers?); a nude, helmeted statue of Mars in side niche of arch. RIC I 173, 145, 147 or 147. Fine, brown patina, porous. Not enough of the obverse legend is visible to identify the specific RIC number.

From the R. D. Frederick Collection.

This monumental triumphal arch was erected by Nero to commemorate Roman military campaigns against the Parthians in Mesopotamia and Armenia. Although not particularly successful in a military sense, with Paetus losing almost his entire army at Randeia in Armenia, the war did end with a peace treaty favorable to Rome that was upheld for nearly fifty years. This coin type is vitally important for architectural historians, for the arch was dismantled after Nero's ignominious end in AD 68 and is only known through its depiction on the coins.