Roman Empire

Nero, with Agrippina II, Emperor AD 54-68

RIC 1; BN 5; BMC 6; Calicó 399, Superb, Nearly Mint State

Rome, AD 54. AGRIPP AVG DIVI CLAVD NERONIS CAES MATER, confronted busts of Nero, bare-headed, right, and Agrippina II, draped, left. Reverse: NERONI CLAVD DIVI F CAES AVG GERM IMP TR P around oak wreath enclosing EX S C.

Ex NAC 94 (6 October 2010), 112; NAC 31 (26 October 2005), 27

During the first five years of Nero’s reign, his mother Agrippina the Younger was a dominating figure but her influence was unwelcome. At last, when she opposed an affair her son was having with Poppaea Sabina, destined to be the second wife of Nero, the Emperor determined to remove his mother from his life. Nero attempted to kill her in a fabricated boating accident, but she survived the ship that had been specially constructed to fall apart and managed to swim ashore. She was subsequently killed the old fashioned way, through the use of an assassin. Nero later claimed that she had plotted to murder him so he struck first.