Powerful Nerva Aureus
Ex Niggeler Collection

CNG 105, Lot: 859. Estimate $20000. Sold for $32500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Nerva. AD 96-98. AV Aureus (18mm, 7.70 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 97. IMP NERVA CAES AVG P M TR P COS III P P, laureate head right / CONCORDIA EXERCITVVM, two clasped right hands. RIC II 14; BMCRE 25-6; BN –; Calicó 955; Biaggi 450. EF, a few minor marks, small test cut at termination of bust. Powerful portrait struck in high relief.

Ex Hess-Leu 45 (12 May 1970), lot 509; Walter Niggeler Collection (Part 3, Bank Leu & Münzen und Medaillen, 2 November 1967), lot 1194.

Domitian’s assassination in AD 96 placed the elderly senator Nerva on the throne. While by all accounts a benevolent ruler, his mild ways and refusal to execute the murderers of Domitian caused some disaffection within the military, among whom Domitian had enjoyed considerable popularity. This reverse type reflects Nerva’s recognition that he needed to placate the army, whose support he eventually gained by adopting the able general Trajan.