Nero Sestertius: RIC I (second edition) Nero 392

Monetary Context and the Neronian Reform

The production of RIC I (second edition) Nero 392 took place against the backdrop of Nero's comprehensive currency reform enacted around AD 64. Prior to this reform, the imperial administration had largely suspended the regular production of base-metal coinage at Rome, leaving Italian and provincial markets reliant on aging Augustan, Tiberian, and Claudian issues, alongside unofficial copies. Nero revitalised base-metal production on an unprecedented scale, using bright golden orichalcum (a brass alloy of copper and zinc) for denominations including the sestertius and dupondius, while initially experimenting with orichalcum across smaller denominations before returning fractional coins to pure copper. The sestertius formed the flagship denomination of the Roman base-metal system. Valued at four asses, or one-quarter of a silver denarius, the coin functioned as an indispensable medium for substantial daily market transactions, official accounting, administrative disbursements, and local commerce throughout the empire. Its expansive flan provided an exceptional canvas for sophisticated political and dynastic messaging. RIC 392 exemplifies this programmatic use of currency, translating major foreign policy milestones and senatorial honours into high-visibility numismatic imagery that circulated widely across the western provinces.

Production and the Lugdunum Mint

Unlike the primary issues produced at the Rome mint, RIC 392 was manufactured at the imperial mint of Lugdunum (modern Lyon, France). Lugdunum had served as a primary western mint under Augustus and Tiberius and was reactivated under Nero to supply plentiful base-metal coinage directly to Gaul, the Rhine frontier legions, and Britain, reducing the logistical burden of transporting heavy copper-alloy coin across the Alps. Numismatists identify the production of Lugdunum through consistent technical and stylistic criteria. Foremost among these is the small globe or pellet placed at the point of the truncation of Nero's neck on the obverse die, an intentional mintmark or administrative convention shared by almost all Lugdunum bronze issues of this period. Additionally, Lugdunum dies frequently display distinctive engraving mannerisms, characterized by slightly softer facial modelling, distinctive lettering forms, and occasionally differing legend breaks compared to the urban workshop at Rome. The blanks were cast and struck using heavy dies capable of impressing deep relief into thick orichalcum planchets.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Portraiture

The obverse of RIC 392 presents a mature, laureate head of Nero facing right. At the lower point of the neck truncation rests the small globe, confirming its attribution to Lugdunum. The portrait reflects the official court physiognomy adopted during the second half of Nero's reign: a heavy, fleshy countenance, prominent jawline, and an elaborate hairstyle featuring locks combed forward and arranged in tiered tiers around the crown and forehead in the manner of the coma in gradus formata. The laurel wreath ties at the back of the neck, with ribbon ends trailing downward. The introduction of this heroic portrait standard coincided with Nero's heightened public self-presentation as an artistic and triumph-seeking princeps. Die engravers at Lugdunum interpreted the official imperial prototype with remarkable skill, achieving high sculptural relief and careful anatomical definition that distinguished western mint production from provincial imitations.

Reverse Iconography: The Triumphal Arch

The reverse of RIC 392 depicts an elaborate triumphal arch viewed from an oblique perspective showing both the front facade and the receding left flank. This perspective allows the die cutter to capture the three-dimensional depth and rich relief sculpture of the monument. In the field, flanking the lower section of the arch, the large letters S and C denote Senatus Consulto, indicating production under senatorial authority according to standard practice for Roman aes coinage. The arch was decreed by the Senate around AD 58 to honour Roman military achievements against the Parthians in Armenia, led by the general Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo. Tacitus records in his Annals (13.41 and 15.18) that the Senate voted an arch and statues on the Capitoline Hill while the campaign was still underway. Above the central entablature, Nero appears in a triumphal quadriga accompanied by a winged Victory holding a wreath. A colossal statue of Pax holding a cornucopia stands in a niche or beside the main opening, complemented by figures of Mars Ultor and auxiliary or legionary soldiers positioned on pedestals and lateral piers. The intricate friezes, spiraled relief columns, and attic ornament provide one of the most detailed representations of lost Neronian monumental architecture known from antiquity.

Epigraphy and Legend Readings

The obverse legend encircles the portrait clockwise, reading: NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GER P M TR P IMP P P. Expanded, this reads: Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate, Imperator, Pater Patriae. This sequence demonstrates the accumulation of constitutional and military titles held by Nero, affirming his status as supreme pontiff, holder of tribunician sacrosanctity, victorious commander, and father of the country. The placement of IMP in the titulature functions as an imperial cognomen rather than an iterative praenomen, reflecting mid-to-late reign usage. On the reverse, the legend is restricted to the formula S C (Senatus Consulto), divided across the lower left and right fields. The absence of an explanatory architectural inscription, such as the IANVM CLVSIT legend found on Nero's Temple of Janus types, leaves the visual depiction of the arch to deliver the political message independently.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the revised Roman Imperial Coinage typology, RIC 392 is catalogued among the sestertii of Lugdunum without aegis, displaying the laureate head right with globe. It is closely related to RIC 393, which bears an identical reverse design and obverse legend but features the bust facing left with a globe. Similar triumphal arch compositions were also struck contemporaneously at the Rome mint (such as RIC 147 through 150), but those urban issues lack the neck-globe mintmark and show subtle variations in architectural ornament, lettering style, and reverse die perspectives. Although Tacitus notes that the arch was voted in AD 58, the coinage celebrating it was not issued until the mid-60s AD, generally placed between AD 65 and AD 67. This lag corresponds to the construction period of the monument on the Capitoline and the post-reform opening of the Lugdunum aes workshop. The arch series remained in production until political instability and the rebellion of Gaius Julius Vindex in early AD 68 brought an abrupt end to Nero's regular western currency output.

Circulation Patterns and Archaeological Evidence

Because RIC 392 was produced at Lugdunum, its primary circulation zone encompassed Gaul, the German military frontiers (Germania Inferior and Superior), and Roman Britain. Excavations at military fortresses along the Rhine and across southern and central Britain have yielded substantial quantities of Neronian orichalcum sestertii, confirming that Lugdunum functioned as the chief paymaster for the northern frontier legions. Due to their substantial weight and intrinsic value within the base-metal system, Neronian sestertii saw intense and prolonged circulation. Many specimens recovered in western hoards exhibit heavy wear, countermarks applied during the civil wars of AD 68 to 69 or under the Flavian emperors, and secondary use extending into the second century AD. The durable orichalcum alloy ensured that these coins remained active in western commercial channels long after Nero's death and subsequent damnatio memoriae.

References

1. Roman Provincial Coinage, Volume I: From the Death of Caesar to the Death of Vitellius. General Introduction to Western Bronze Circulation
2. Le Monnayage de l'Atelier de Lyon: Des origines au regne de Caligula et de Neron a Trajan. pp. 121-125
3. The Arch of Nero in Rome: A Study of the Roman Honorary Arch before the Reign of Septimius Severus. Archaeologica 52, pp. 78-83
4. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume I: Augustus to Vitellius. pp. 257-261
5. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC I (second edition) Nero 392. ric.1(2).ner.392
6. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume I: From 31 BC to AD 69 (revised edition). p. 177, no. 392
7. The Aes Coinage of Nero. Numismatic Notes and Monographs 145