An Interesting Nero

Nero
Reduced module Orichalcum As



64 A.D
Rome mint
NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GER P M TR P IMP P P
Laureate head right
GENIO AVGVSTI
S - C
Genius standing left, nude to the waist, sacrificing from patera in right over altar at feet on left, cornucopia in right
I in exergue
22 mm
RIC I 219

An early bronze issue for Nero who did not strike bronze during the first years of his reign.
Under Nero, the mint produced brass asses on a weight standard of one-half a dupondius.
The letter I denotes one as, while II appears on dupondii equal to two asses and S appears on the semis.
The experiment of the brass as was not continued by his successors, though some issued the 3g brass semis and Trajan and Hadrian produced brass 4g 1/3 and 8g 2/3 dupondius coins in the East. [From a Forvm listing]

64 A.D
- July 19th, half of Rome burns during the Great Fire of Rome.
- Nero blames the Christians
- The 'Second Wave' of Persecution of the Christians by the Romans start

I in exergue
- Denomination mark of 1

RIC I 219
- R2 (11-15 recorded by RIC 1 in 1984)