Semis - Nero PON MA TR P IMP P P S C, Roma

Nero's semis coinage of this period was produced under the monetary reform of 64 AD, which reduced the weight standard of bronze denominations significantly — the reform is sometimes linked to the financial pressures following the great fire of Rome, though Nero had been quietly adjusting coin weights before the disaster. The S C on bronze issues reflects senatorial authority over the aes coinage, a constitutional fiction that Augustus had established and every subsequent emperor maintained.