Pre-Long Beach Auction #80

Nero Claudius Drusus. Silver Denarius (3.80 g), AD 41-54. Rome, under Claudius, ca. AD 41-45. NERO CLAVDIVS DRVSVS GERMANICVS IMP, laureate head of Nero Claudius Drusus left. Reverse Triumphal arch surmounted by equestrian statue left between two trophies, DE GERMANIS on architrave. RIC 72; BMC 101; RSC 4. Well struck on a large wide flan with every letter complete. A superb portrait of Nero Claudius Drusus and delicately toned. Very rare and among the finest specimens known. Superb Extremely Fine.

Nero Claudius Drusus was the son of Livia and the senator Tiberius Claudius Nero. Before he was born his parents divorced so that Augustus could marry his mother. Unlike his older brother, the future emperor Tiberius whom Augustus disliked, the emperor doted on his younger stepson.

In 13 BC Drusus was sent to govern Gaul, and while there he repelled an attack by a tribe of Germans who had invaded the province. Most of the following years until his death were spent on campaigns in German territory. First, he crossed the Rhine frontier and penetrated as far as the North Sea, subduing the Frisii. The following years saw him engaged against various confederations of the Chatti, Sicambri and Marcomanni. He died tragically in 9 BC from injuries he sustained when he fell from his horse while on campaign fighting the Marcomanni.

The Arch of Drusus that appears on the reverse of this coin and which commemorated his campaigns in Germania has not survived. Its precise location is not known, but it was on the Appian way.
Estimated Value $25,000 - 30,000.
Ex NAC 62 (6 October 2011), 2018; NAC 29 (11 May 2005), 466; Tkalec (29 February 2000), 234.