Coins, Tokens, Historical Medals and Antiquities

Roman Imperial Coinage, Nero and Agrippina II, Aureus, Rome, 55, nero clavd divi f caes avg germ imp tr p cos, conjoined busts of Nero and Agrippina right, rev. agripp avg divi clavd neronis [caes mater], Divus Claudius, radiate, holding eagle-tipped sceptre and Divus Augustus, radiate, holding sceptre and patera, driving quadriga of elephants left, ex s c in field, 7.63g (Calicó 397; RIC 6; BMC 7). Some minor surface marks and reverse slightly off-centre, otherwise good very fine with traces of original bloom; an attractive coin with high relief portraits and an interesting reverse type £5,000-£6,000

The reverse shows the funeral of Claudius in October 54, which, as Tacitus tells us, was consciously modelled on Augustus’ grand funeral some forty years earlier. Claudius was only the second emperor to be deified and is shown here with his divine ancestor in a car drawn by elephants. Sestertii of a similar design were struck by Tiberius in 36-7, commemorating the deification of Augustus