372, Lot: 406. Estimate $150. Sold for $360. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Nero. AD 54-68. Æ Sestertius (35mm, 28.02 g, 1h). Uncertain Balkan mint, possibly Perinthus in Thrace. Struck circa AD 64. Laureate bust right / Triumphal arch with wreath hung between pillars surmounted by statuary group of Nero in quadriga, escorted by Victory and Pax and flanked by soldiers; statue of Mars in niche on left side of arch. RIC I –; RPC 1758 = D.W. MacDowall, "Two Roman Countermarks of AD 68," NC (1960), 1 (example with countermark of Galba); CNG 97, lot 626 (same dies). Near VF, porous dark brown surfaces.

Perinthus has been proposed as a possible mint for this rare issue of aes coinage with Latin legends. The style is quite distinct from the two western issues of Rome and Lugdunum, and there is nothing in common with the Latin issues of Antioch or Corinth. Provenance, when known, is almost always in the northwest Balkan area. In addition, the coins are frequently encountered countermarked with Galban stamps (GAL KAI and GALBA) that were used to countermark provincial Perinthus issues.