Nerva, Rome mint, 97 AD.,
Denarius (17-18 mm / 3,28 g), silver, axis about coin alignment ↑↓ (ca. 190°),
Obv.: [IMP] NERVA CAES AVG P M TR P II COS III P P , laureate head of Nerva right. Exceptional portrait with long pointed nose.
Rev.: AEQVITAS - AVGVST , Aequitas standing left, holding scales with her right hand and cornucopia with left.
RIC 13 ; Coh. 6 ; BMC 24 ; CBN 13 ; RSC 6 .
toned silver patina from old collection, few black encrustations at legends
After the assassination of Domitian the Senate elected as emperor one of its members, the elderly Marcus Cocceius Nerva. He seems to have been a respected jurist of no particular distinction, save for his honorable nature. Much of the army, however, remained enamored of the memory of Domitian (he had treated them well and raised their pay) and in 97 Nerva was faced with a number of abortive rebellions, including one in which the Praetorians invaded his palace seeking officials implicated in Domitian’s murder. In an exceptionally astute move Nerva, who was childless, in Fall 97 adopted Marcus Ulpius Traianus, a successful general and then governor of Upper Germany, as his successor.