AU - MS Nero Tetradrachm Eagle

This is a Nero AR tetradrachm from Antioch in Syria, RPC I 4189.

Attribution

* Nero, AD 54–68

* Seleucis & Pieria, Antioch

* AR tetradrachm

* Dated Regnal Year 10 / Caesarean Era 112 = AD 63/64

* Obv.: ΝΕΡΩΝ ΚΑΙΣΑΡ ΣΕΒΑΣΤΟΣ — laureate head of Nero right, wearing the elaborate aegis

* Rev.: ΕΤΟΥΣ ΒΙΡ • Ι — eagle standing right on thunderbolt, wings spread; palm branch to right

* RPC I 4189

* McAlee 265b

* Prieur 89

The key distinction is the later/“older hairstyle” portrait of Nero. RPC separates this as 4189 from the very similar RPC 4188 / McAlee 265a, which has the younger hairstyle. Your portrait, particularly the thick, elaborate locks over the forehead and temple, looks to me like 4189 / 265b. RPC itself describes 4189 as the “older hairstyle” variety.

One correction: there is no RIC number for this coin. Because it is a Roman provincial tetradrachm of Antioch, the principal catalogue is RPC (Roman Provincial Coinage) rather than RIC. Auction houses regularly catalog this exact issue as RPC I 4189; McAlee 265b; Prieur 89.

It’s also a particularly attractive example of the type—the Nero portrait and aegis are unusually sharp and sculptural in the photo.