NERO SILVER DENARIUS – YOUTHFUL PORTRAIT ISSUE WITH CORONA CIVICA REVERSE – CHOICE XF STAR NGC GRADED ROMAN IMPERIAL COIN OF THE 12 CAESARS (Inv. 18988)

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18988. ROMAN EMPIRE. NERO, AD 54–68.
Silver Denarius, 3.57 g, 18 mm. Issue of Lugdunum (Lyon, France), AD 58–59.
Obv. NERO CAESAR AVG IMP, youthful head of Nero right. Rev. PONTIF MAX TR P V P P, EX S C within oak wreath (corona civica).
RIC I rev 17 (R2).
NGC graded CHOICE XF STAR, Strike 4/5, Surface 4/5, lustrous with rose iridescent highlights, and depicting an exceptional portrait of the young emperor.

On this coin the young Nero casts himself as a new Augustus, by adopting a famous Augustan coin type showing the corona civica, an oak wreath awarded by the Senate in 27 BC. Under the Roman Republic, this oak wreath was awarded for saving the life of a citizen in war, but it was presented to Augustus for saving all Roman citizens from civil war by defeating Mark Antony and assuming sole power.