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Research Coins: Feature Auction

 

Ex Biaggi de Blasys Collection

CNG 105, Lot: 809. Estimate $20000.
Sold for $47500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Nero Claudius Drusus. Died 9 BC. AV Aureus (19.5mm, 7.76 g, 1h). Lugdunum (Lyon) mint. Struck under Claudius, AD 41-42. NERO CLAVDIVS DRVSVS GERMANICVS IMP, head left, wearing oak wreath (corona civica) / DE GE R MA NIS, two oblong shields, two pairs of spears, and two trumpets, all crossed over upright vexillum. RIC I 73 (Claudius) var. (laureate); von Kaenel Type 13 (unlisted dies); Lyon 24 (Claudius); Calicó 317b = Bement Collection (Ars Classica VIII), lot 585; BMCRE 105-6 (Claudius) var. (same); BN 8 (Claudius) var. (same); Biaggi 182 (this coin). EF, lustrous.


Ex Leo Biaggi de Blasys Collection, 182.

This aureus is an example of Claudian propaganda, in which that emperor recognized members of his family and their achievements. The obverse, depicting his father, Nero Claudius Drusus, or Drusus the Elder, shows him wearing the corona civica, an oak wreath awarded to an individual who had personally saved the lives of citizens by slaying an enemy on a spot held by that enemy (Plin.HN 16.5). The reason for the receipt of the award is indicated by the reverse, commemorating the military campaign of Drusus the Elder against the German tribes across the Rhine. For five years, from 14 BC until his death in 9 BC, Drusus constructed a series of fortress bridgeheads along the western bank of the Rhine (including Moguntiacum [mod. Mainz], Bonna [mod. Bonn], and Colonia Agrippinensis [mod. Cologne]). Defeating those Germanic tribes located on the opposite shore, who had been engaging in raids against the Roman province of Gaul and threatening commerce on the Rhine, Drusus pushed into German territory as far as the Elbe, but turned back, because it was said that an apparition of a Germanic woman warned him against going further and that he was soon to die. For his successes, Drusus the Elder was awarded the agnomen Germanicus, a title that was applied to his two sons following his death.