Code: 11714
This is an ancient Roman gold Aureus of emperor Nero, struck in Rome between 65 - 66 AD
Obverse: NERO CAESAR AVGVSTVS; "Nero Caesar, emperor (Augustus)" laureate head of Nero facing right
Reverse: IVPPITER CVSTOS "Jupiter, the guardian" Jupiter seated left with thunderbolt and sceptre.
Jupiter the Guardian (represented by the inscription “Custos” – one who preserves and saves) was attributed with the intervention that saved Nero from assassination in 64 AD (see "A Conspiracy to Assassinate the Emperor Nero").
This coin bears a subtle fiery red-orange Boscoreale toning, named after the Hoard found in 1895 - see here, here and here for similar examples displaying the characteristic patina.
The famous Boscoréale hoard, discovered on 13 April 1895, consisted of 109 pieces of gold and silver plate along with a leather bag that contained over 1,000 gold aurei. The hoard had belonged to the owners of a wine-producing villa rustica on the south-eastern slopes of Vesuvius near the modern-day village of Boscoréale, hence its name. The hoard was placed in an empty cistern in the wine cellar of the villa when its owners fled before the eruption of AD 79, and while the villa began to be excavated in 1876 the coins remained undisturbed until 1895. Though gold is considered an 'immortal' metal and is highly unreactive, the intense heat and volcanic compounds the coins were subjected to by the eruption and during their subsequent burial left most with the distinctive colouration that is highly sought after by connoisseurs of Roman aurei.
A very nice coin with a good portrait and full titles. RARE
CULTURE: ROMAN
DENOMINATION: Aureus
MATERIAL: Gold
DATE: 54 - 68 AD (this coin minted between 65-66AD
SIZE: 18mm dia
WEIGHT: 7.16 grams
ATTRIBUTION: RIC 52, Cohen 118, BMC 67 (RCV 2000 Edition) Number 1930
PROVENANCE: Private collection. Cologne, Germany. Previously in a Swiss private collection.
