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Nero. AD 54-68. Æ Sestertius (36mm, 25.31 g, 6h). Lugdunum (Lyon) mint. Struck circa AD 65. NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GER P M TR P IMP P, laureate head left, globe at point of neck / ANNONA AVGVSTI CERES, S C in exergue, Annona standing right, holding cornucopia in left hand, facing Ceres seated left, holding grain ears in outstretched right hand and torch in left; between them, modius on garlanded altar, ship’s stern in background. RIC I 389; WCN 404; Lyon 62; BMCRE –; BN –. Dark green-brown patina, minor smoothing. Near EF. Rare with this obverse legend.
Ex Lanz 138 (26 November 2007), lot 581; Numismatica Ars Classica 40 (16 May 2007), lot 664.
The Roman government regarded the public grain dole as so important to maintaining civic order that a goddess, Annona, was created by Nero’s imperial propagandists to represent it. Depicted as a matronly woman holding a cornucopia, Annona makes her first appearance on Roman coinage with this sestertius issue, joined by Ceres, venerable deity of the grain harvest, along with a modius of grain and a ship’s prow, symbolizing the transport of grain from the breadbasket provinces of Sicily, Africa and Egypt to the port of Ostia. Annona continued to appear regularly on Roman coinage for another two centuries, signifying the emperor’s care for the nutritional needs of his subjects.
The final winners of all Triton XXVI lots will be determined at the live public sale that will be held on 10-11 January 2023.
Triton XXVI – Session Three – Lots 674-990 will be held Wednesday morning, 11 January 2023 beginning at 9:00 AM ET.
Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.
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