| Leu Numismatik AG > Web Auction 29 | Auction date: 24 February 2024 |
| Lot number: 1962 Price realized: 1,235 CHF (Approx. 1,402 USD / 1,295 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | Show similar lots on CoinArchives Find similar lots in upcoming auctions on  |
| Lot description: Nerva, 96-98. Cistophorus (Silver, 27 mm, 10.35 g, 6 h), uncertain mint in Asia Minor, January-September 97. IMP NERVA CAES AVG P M TR POT P P Laureate head of Nerva to right. Rev. COS III Aquila between two signa. BMC 80. Cohen -. RIC 119. RPC III 1298. A beautiful piece with a fine, long-necked portrait of Nerva. A few minor marks and with a thin flan crack, otherwise, about extremely fine. From a European collection, formed before 2005. Long necks were a distinctive feature of Julio-Claudian portraiture, especially on the later portraits of Tiberius and those of Caligula and Claudius, but also on earlier portraits of both Julius Caesar and Augustus. During the later years of Nero's reign, the long-necked portraits fell out of fashion and we almost consistently encounter much more realistically proportioned necks afterwards, until the reign of Nerva, when the emperor was again shown with a long, Julio-Claudian style neck. This was likely due to several reasons. First, Nerva, whose reign was short and unstable, wanted to garner support by drawing parallels between his reign and those of the earlier Julio-Claudian emperors, who many associated with times of political and military stability. Furthermore, the emperor was an elderly 65-year-old at the time of his accession. Growing older and perhaps more conservative, he may simply have preferred the look of the earlier coinage, and demanded a return to the earlier style long-necked portraits for his own coinage. Starting price: 250 CHF |  |
