VEHICVLATIONE ITALIAE REMISSA

CNG 105, Lot: 860. Estimate $1500. Sold for $1600. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Nerva. AD 96-98. Æ Sestertius (33mm, 22.31 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 97. Laureate head right / VEHICVLATIONE ITALIAE REMISSA, two horses grazing; yoke in background. RIC II 93; Banti 44. VF, brown surfaces, minor flan crack. Rare.

From the Collection of a Director. Ex Auctiones AG 6 (30 September 1976), lot 470.

Nerva attempted to relieve some of the burdens that had been imposed on the people of Italy by his predecessor, Domitian. One of his acts was the assumption of the costs of the imperial post by the Roman government, a burden which had formerly fallen on the municipalities. Though this event is celebrated on this coin, no contemporary writers mention the act.