Sale: Triton VII, Lot: 872. Estimate $2000.  Closing Date: Monday, 12 January 2004.  Sold For $1800. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

NERO. 54-68 AD. Æ Sestertius (27.84 gm). Rome mint. Struck circa 64 AD. NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GER P M TR P IMP P P, laureate head right, wearing aegis / S C across field, triumphal arch, hung with wreath across front, surmounted by statue of the emperor in a quadriga preceeded by Pax, holding caduceus and cornucopiae, and Victory, holding wreath and palm; two nude figures standing on either side of attic ornamented with Victories; helmeted statue of Mars in side niche of arch; pedestals decorated with friezes of battle scenes. RIC I 143; WCN 126; BMCRE 183; BN 303; Cohen 308. Good VF, attractive dark olive patina, some smoothing in fields. ($2000)

This monumental triumphal arch was erected by Nero to commemorate Roman military campaigns against the Parthians in Mesopotamia and Armenia (see lot 483 above, for a coin of his Parthian opponent, Vologases I). Although Nero was not entirely militarily successful, especially as Paetus lost almost his entire army at Randeia in Armenia, the war did end with a peace treaty favorable to Rome that was maintained for nearly fifty years. This coin type is vitally important for architectural historians, for the arch was dismantled after Nero's suicide in 68 AD, and is only known through its depiction on the coins.