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HJB Home > Ancient Coins Home > Inv. # cc85251

Nero; 54-68 AD, Lugdunum, 66-8 AD, Sestertius, 23.90g. RIC-586 or 588 (both R2). Obv: IMP NERO CAESAR AVG P MA... Head laureate r., globe at tip of neck. Rx: PORT AVG (upside down in exergue), S - [C] above across field, Two curved moles enclosing seven ships in the harbor of Ostia, statue atop lighthouse above, Neptune reclining below. A very rare type with this P MAX obverse legend and portrait right at Lugdunum: MacDowall 464 or 476 depending on whether the legend ends TR POT P P or just TR P P P, each variant known to him in only one specimen. Curious upside-down legend placement on reverse: short legends in exergue are usually right side up! The number of ships shown in the harbor in this type varies, but the four most important ones, usually present and showing four successive stages in a ship's use of the harbor, are the two left and right of the lighthouse, one entering the harbor under full sail and the other being rowed out of the harbor; the large ship in the center, which has recently arrived and cast anchor and whose sails are being taken in by several sailors on deck and in the rigging; and finally a ship alongside the quay at nine o'clock whose cargo is being unloaded by one man on deck and a second crossing the gangplank to shore (unclear on this specimen).Though this coin is rather worn, the reverse is extremely sharp. It is a desirable type at a reasonable price. Fine / aVF