Aureus - Nero PONTIF MAX TR P X COS IIII P P EX S C, Roma

Struck in the year immediately preceding the Great Fire of Rome, this issue carries the unusual obverse exergue notation EX S C — "by decree of the Senate" — a formula appearing on Neronian aurei that has never been fully explained. Whether it reflects a genuine senatorial authorization for a specific gold emission or was purely ceremonial flattery remains debated among scholars of early imperial coinage.

By 63–64 AD, Nero had already begun the debasement program that would reduce the aureus's weight and fineness — but not yet. This issue precedes the cut.