Nero Claudius Drusus

[Tejas]

I got the coin below. It is one of these coins, which I never thought I would get at a decent price. When this one came up, I was kind of lucky, perhaps because of a very bad seller picture, plus a description which stated that the coin is  "corroded", which it isn't.  But of course it is not a great condition, but the coin is pleasing enough for this rare and sought after type.

Nero Claudius Drusus was one of the first Romans who reached my home area in northern Germany.

 

Obv.: NERO CLAVDIVS DRVSVS GERMANICVS IMP

Rev.: DE GERMANIS

The coin was minted under Claudius in AD 41 to 45. 

[Octavius]

Very handsome looking coin.

[CPK]

Fantastic coin! I like the crossed shields types.

[Finn235]

Incredible!

By blind luck I stumbled into one on ebay in a group lot back in 2018 - ugly as sin but nice + affordable isn't a possible combination when dealing with Tiberius' brother.

What did you get yours for? Cant say I ever recall seeing a denarius of his go for less than $1000. They are considerably rarer than the sestertii.

[Tejas]

I also like the crossed shields. This type of shield seems to have been the „typical“ Germanic shield in the 1st century AD. Later the Germanic people used round shields, as attested in many archaeological finds, including the grave of Gommern. 

I also find it interesting that the shields are shown from the back. The grip is clearly visible. I think this is a rather strange way of showing the shield and it may have to do with the fact that these are the shields of the defeated enemy. I don‘t think they would have shown Roman shields in this way.

[Prieure de Sion]

14 hours ago, Tejas said:

I got the coin below. It is one of these coins, which I never thought I would get at a decent price. When this one came up, I was kind of lucky, perhaps because of a very bad seller picture, plus a description which stated that the coin is  "corroded", which it isn't.  But of course it is not a great condition, but the coin is pleasing enough for this rare and sought after type.

Nero Claudius Drusus was one of the first Romans who reached my home area in northern Germany.

 

Obv.: NERO CLAVDIVS DRVSVS GERMANICVS IMP

Rev.: DE GERMANIS

The coin was minted under Claudius in AD 41 to 45. 

Fantastic portrait! Great coin. Gratulation. 

[Prieure de Sion]

Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus for Nero Claudius Drusus (Drusus the Elder)

Reign: Claudius

Mint: Rome

Date: 50/54 AD

Nominal: Sestertius

Material: AE Bronze

Diameter: 34.5mm

Weight: 23.96g

 
Rare: R3

Reference: Cohen 8 (10f)

Reference: BMC/RE 208

Reference: BN/R 198 pl. 24

Reference: RCV.1897 (3200€)

Reference: MRK.6 /5 (3500€)

Reference: RIC I (second edition) Claudius 109

OCRE Online: http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.1(2).cl.109

Provenance: CGB.fr Numismatique Paris, France

 
Obverse: Head of Nero Claudius Drusus, bare, left

Inscription: NERO CLAVDIVS DRVSVS GERMANICVS IMP

Translation: Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus Imperator

 
Reverse: Claudius, togate, seated left on curule chair, holding branch in right hand; various arms around

Inscription: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR P IMP P P S C

Translation: Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus, Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate, Imperator, Pater Patriae, Senatus Consultum

Translation: Tiberius Claudius Caesar, Augustus, high priest, holder of tribunician power, Imperator, father of the nation, Decree of the senate

[Limes]

Great addition to your collection, and such a good looking issue of this rare coin. 

I'd love to add a coin of this beloved general to my collection too one day. I thought I had one, and of the type I really wanted, but unfortunately it proved to be a fake. It still hurts a bit, knowing that these coins are rare, don't come up often and better ones are very expensive... I think on better specimens of this issue, you can see the shields you mentioned as part of the trophy (below the 'head' as 'arms') from the front. But at other examples they appear to be more rounded. The same goes for the shields at the base of the trophies. I do think they are the same shields as shown on your coin; it makes little sense to me to put different shields on the designs of these coins while referring to the same campaigns. Then again, I'm not a 'germanic shield expert', so I could be very wrong here. 

Edited November 4, 2023 by Limes

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

Wow. @Tejas that's an awesome coin. 

 

[Tejas]

4 hours ago, Limes said:

Then again, I'm not a 'germanic shield expert', so I could be very wrong here. 

I'm also not a Germanic shield expert. I think the Romans depicted something that they thought was typical. Romans probably expected a Germanic warrior to be depicted in a certain way, like wearing trousers, bare chested and carrying one of these elongated shields, even if there was probably much more variation in reality. 

It is also likely that different tribes used different shields. The elongated shield that we see on the coins, may have been used predominately by Rhine-Weser Germanic people, including such tribes as the Chatti, Cherusci and Marsi. Drusus also encountered Elbe-Germanic people, (Suebi, Semnones), which constituted a somewhat different material culture than the Rhine-Weser tribes. 

Indeed, Drusus was the first Roman general to reach the Elbe river, which he may have even crossed. It was there, where he reportedly met a very tall Germanic women who told him to turn back, as his life was soon to end. 

 

[Limes]

2 hours ago, Tejas said:

I'm also not a Germanic shield expert. I think the Romans depicted something that they thought was typical. Romans probably expected a Germanic warrior to be depicted in a certain way, like wearing trousers, bare chested and carrying one of these elongated shields, even if there was probably much more variation in reality. 

It is also likely that different tribes used different shields. The elongated shield that we see on the coins, may have been used predominately by Rhine-Weser Germanic people, including such tribes as the Chatti, Cherusci and Marsi. Drusus also encountered Elbe-Germanic people, (Suebi, Semnones), which constituted a somewhat different material culture than the Rhine-Weser tribes. 

Indeed, Drusus was the first Roman general to reach the Elbe river, which he may have even crossed. It was there, where he reportedly met a very tall Germanic women who told him to turn back, as his life was soon to end. 

 

Thats very interesting food for thought, thanks for sharing.

Reminds me of some of the rendering of animals on coins. They dont look real, but for many Romans real enough as they adhere to their imagination or beliefs how the world looks.