Nero Orichalcum Sestertius: RIC I (second edition) Nero 170

Monetary Context and Denominational Role

During the earlier years of his reign, Nero suspended the routine production of aes coinage at Rome, relying instead on existing Julio-Claudian stocks and precious metal emissions. Around AD 64, coincident with the rebuilding programs following the Great Fire of Rome and broader economic restructuring, Nero initiated a profound transformation of the Roman monetary system. This reform reintroduced base-metal coinage at Rome on a massive scale, establishing unified stylistic and metallurgical standards. Within this reformed system, the sestertius served as the flagship brass denomination, valued at four asses or one quarter of a silver denarius. Struck in orichalcum, a golden copper-zinc alloy, the sestertius functioned not only as the primary vehicle for high-value everyday cash transactions but also as an expansive artistic canvas for imperial ideology. The denomination occupied an indispensable economic tier between daily low-value copper fractional pieces and precious metal coinage, ensuring its rapid circulation among urban populations, soldiers, and commercial traders across the empire.

Mint Attribution and Technical Production

Type RIC I (second edition) Nero 170 is securely assigned to the imperial mint situated in Rome. Unlike contemporary issues produced at the western branch mint of Lugdunum, which frequently display a small globe at the truncation of the imperial bust, Rome emissions omit the globe and demonstrate the distinctive high-relief cutting of the capital's principal die-engravers. Production of the sestertius required carefully cast orichalcum flans heated to permit the deep displacement of metal demanded by the elaborate dies. Nero's Roman mint employed skilled engravers capable of rendering nuanced anatomical modeling, animated equestrian poses, and balanced lettering within the outer borders. Typical sestertii of this period were struck to a theoretical weight standard around 27 to 28 grams, though individual surviving specimens naturally exhibit variability caused by manual flan preparation, alloy composition variances, and subsequent centuries of wear or corrosion.

Obverse Portraiture and Typology

The obverse of RIC 170 presents a powerful, mature laureate head of Nero facing right. Engraved with realistic court portraiture developed during the emperor's later reign, the bust depicts Nero with a thick neck, pronounced facial fleshiness, and a carefully styled coiffure characterized by locks arranged in stepped tiers across the forehead. Resting prominently upon the base of the neck truncation is an aegis, the mythic goatskin associated with Minerva and Jupiter, adorned with serpent motifs. The presence of the aegis elevates the imperial image by invoking divine martial protection and assimilation to patron deities. Die engravers executed this portrait with meticulous depth, producing an impression of imperial majesty that departed sharply from the restrained classicism of Augustus and Tiberius.

Reverse Iconography: The Decursio

The reverse design of RIC 170 depicts a dynamic equestrian scene identified by the accompanying legend DECVRSIO. The central figure is Nero himself, bare-headed and clad in military cuirass, with his paludamentum streaming outward behind him as his horse prances vigorously toward the right. Nero holds a spear resting in his hand or pointed forward. Accompanying the emperor is a second mounted horseman, depicted riding toward the left while looking backward or flanking the imperial mount, carrying a vexillum angled over his shoulder. The term decursio denotes tactical military exercises, maneuvers, and sham combats performed by Roman cavalry units, as well as formal equestrian parade games held in the Circus or Campus Martius. In numismatic scholarship, this scene has been interpreted as a reference to Nero's leadership of the equites, his patronage of the youth military associations (iuventus), or the commemorative equestrian displays celebrated during public festivals. Flanking the lower field are the large letters S C, signifying the formal senatorial decree under which aes coinage was issued.

Epigraphy and Titular Legends

The obverse legend of RIC 170 reads continuously around the perimeter: NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GER P M TR P IMP P P. This extended inscription translates to Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, Pontifex Maximus, holder of the Tribunician Power, Imperator, Father of the Fatherland. The accumulation of these honors encapsulates the totality of Nero's constitutional powers and dynastic heritage, including his adoption into the Claudian line and his descent from Germanicus. The reverse is inscribed with the succinct title DECVRSIO in the upper field or exergue, identifying the ceremony portrayed. At the lower sides of the equestrian tableau stands the formulaic abbreviation S C (Senatus Consulto, by decree of the Senate), maintaining the long-standing constitutional fiction of senatorial oversight over Roman brass and bronze emissions. Epigraphically, the lettering is cut in clear, well-spaced Roman square capitals, characteristic of the refined standards established by the central mint after AD 64.

Typological Variants and Chronological Sequence

Within the second edition of Roman Imperial Coinage Volume I, Nero 170 is part of a broad series of Decursio sestertii featuring subtle iconographical and epigraphical variations. These related types include compositions showing the emperor riding left rather than right, scenes where a second foot attendant accompanies the horses, and variants lacking the aegis or showing a bare head instead of a laureate crown. The issue date of RIC 170 belongs to the reformed aes phase spanning AD 64 to 68, with most authorities placing the principal striking period between AD 64 and AD 66 based on stylistic links to securely dated tribunician emissions. Unlike certain dated denarii and aurei of Nero, the base-metal issues frequently omit specific imperial acclamation or tribunician numbers, requiring chronological attribution through portrait typology, die sequences, and the presence or absence of specific titles such as Pater Patriae.

Circulation Patterns and Archaeological Evidence

As high-denomination orichalcum pieces, sestertii of the Decursio type circulated widely throughout Italy and the western provinces of the Roman Empire, including Gaul, Hispania, and the military frontiers along the Rhine and Danube. Because large brass coins retained intrinsic purchasing power and were well-protected against rapid demonetization, Neronian sestertii remained active in commercial circulation for generations. Archaeological site finds and hoards from Britain to the Balkans demonstrate that reformed sestertii of Nero frequently continued in daily use throughout the Flavian dynasty and well into the second century AD, often circulating alongside issues of Trajan, Hadrian, and the Antonines until natural attrition and heavy surface abrasion caused their eventual retirement or melting.

References

1. Roman Provincial Coinage, Volume I: From the Death of Caesar to the Death of Vitellius. pp. 1-28
2. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume I: Augustus to Vitellius. pp. clxiii-clxxxi, 214-260
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC I (second edition) Nero 170. Type ric.1(2).ner.170
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume I: From 31 BC to AD 69 (Revised Edition). pp. 130-185, no. 170