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Sestertius - Nero CONG II DAT POP S C, Minerva and Liberalitas

Issuer Roman Empire (27 BC - 395 AD)
Year 62-68
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Technique Hammered
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Obverse description Laureate bust of Nero facing right, with an aegis draped over the neck and shoulder, rendered in high relief with finely engraved curling hair and laurel wreath. The emperor's portrait displays the characteristic full, fleshy features associated with his mature coinage. A continuous Latin legend encircles the effigy along the periphery of the flan. The portrait style is consistent with the Julio-Claudian workshop tradition, combining idealized and naturalistic elements. The field to the right of the bust is largely plain, with the inscription occupying the outer border.
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Reverse script Latin
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Additional information

This sestertius commemorates one of Nero's public cash distributions — the congiarium — a practice inherited from Republican tradition but deployed by emperors as a direct instrument of popular favor. Nero staged at least five such distributions during his reign, and the CONG II legend places this issue at the second, likely datable to around 64 AD. Each citizen eligible for the dole received a fixed sum in coin, meaning these pieces entered circulation immediately and heavily, which accounts for the typically severe wear seen on surviving examples.

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