Struck in the final months before Nero's suicide in June 68 AD, this issue belongs to the chaotic interregnum when Galba's march on Rome had already begun and the mint was operating under conditions of profound political instability. The attribution to this period — rather than a settled reign — makes the issuing authority itself contested; some scholars assign these pieces to a military mint traveling with Galba's forces, others to Rome acting under residual Neronian authority.
The year 69 AD would produce four emperors in rapid succession. Aurei of this RIC type are among the physical artifacts of that collapse.
Struck in the final months before Nero's suicide in June 68 AD, this issue belongs to the chaotic interregnum when Galba's march on Rome had already begun and the mint was operating under conditions of profound political instability. The attribution to this period — rather than a settled reign — makes the issuing authority itself contested; some scholars assign these pieces to a military mint traveling with Galba's forces, others to Rome acting under residual Neronian authority.
The year 69 AD would produce four emperors in rapid succession. Aurei of this RIC type are among the physical artifacts of that collapse.