Maturing portraits of Nero

A silver cistophorus (three denarius) of 50-51 CE, portrays Nero at 13, before he became emperor. Nero, as Caesar, AR Denarius. 51-54 AD. On the reverse sacral implements of the different priests. Nero was around 18 in 54 AD.

Maturing portraits on Roman coins is rare. Few emperors began their reigns young and ruled long enough that aging can be observed in their coinage. Nero evolved dramatically from a slender youth to a heavy-set autocrat, charting his psychological shift and physical decline from age 12 to 30. Nero was the son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger, sister of Caligula. Due to his maternal family line, Nero was the great-great-grandson of  Augustus. This helped him to legitimate his position as emperor. Nero became emperor in 50 CE at age 16 due to the influence of his mother over Claudius.

Nero was 20 when this portrait appeared on silver denarii of 56-57 CE. Nero was 22 or 23 on a tetradrachm struck 59-60 CE. Nero was 25 in 62-63 CE.

Nero is infamous for brutally debasing currency and severely taxing to fund his palace, the Domus Aurea.

A menacing portrait appeared on a silver tetradrachm of 65-66 CE.

Nero is also famous for persecuting Christians and blaming them for the great fire of 64 AD. The great fire cleared the way for Nero's Domus Aurea on the Oppian Hill in the heart of ancient Rome.

This coin was struck within a year of his death in 68. He was about 30.

Hoard of five Roman Republican silver denarii

A rare hoard of five Roman Republican silver denarii was uncovered near Halle (Saale) in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. One coin dates to 148 BC, and the other four were minted between 82 and 79 BC. Heavy wear indicates the silver coins were in active circulation before being buried. Experts believe the coins were kept together in a small pouch that was eventually scattered by farming. Found well outside the borders of the Roman Empire, the silver likely arrived via trade. Three of the five coins are serrated denarii, known as serrati, with saw-like edges. Two of those carry scratched graffiti.

People living in what is now Saxony-Anhalt didn't use coins as everyday money. The silver denarii likely served as prized objects and a store of wealth. The coins could have reached the area through trade, diplomatic gifts, payments, exchanges between Germanic groups, or Roman military campaigns. Earlier archaeological work has linked Roman expeditions led by Drusus, Ahenobarbus, and the future Emperor Tiberius to central Germany. Roman marching camps have also been identified in the region.

Artemis Gallery ancient antiquities

Artemis Gallery unlocks the mysteries of ancient times with auctions of classical antiquities, and ancient and ethnographic art.

Polychrome gesso box, Egypt, 26th Dynasty, circa 662 to 525 BCE, with hieroglyphs on each of four panels, $40,000-$60,000

Greek Illyrian bronze helmet, circa late 6th to 5th century BCE. $20,000-$30,000

22 karat gold Burmese Buddha dates to the 12th century. $50k.

Pre-Columbian ceramic figure of the Veracruz (Mexico) culture is a life-size ocarina. $40k-$60k.

Wood mummiform sarcophagus depicting Falcon Bird Horus. Circa 664 to 332 BCE, very rare $25k-$35k.

1st century cavalry officer’s bronze parade mask. Estimate $80k-$100k.

Greek Cycladic marble female figure, circa 2500 BCE. Est. $80k-$100k.

Enormous Early Byzantine (400 to 600 CE) liturgical table finely carved from a single piece of creamy white marble. $100k-$300k

Chinese Han Dynasty terracotta horse, circa 206 BCE to 220 CE. Est: $75,000-$150,000

Urartu bronze helmet, 8th-7th century BCE. Est. $250k-$350k

Greek Paestan red-figure bell krater, Magna Graecia, southern Italy, circa 340 to 330 BCE $6,000-$8,000

Museum-quality pieces are from Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Etruscan, Near Eastern, Asian, Pre-Columbian and Native-American cultures. Celtic and Viking relics include gold jewelry. Viking 18K gold ring with central cabochon garnet and flanking emerald cabochons, circa 9th to 12th centuries CE, $25k.

Large Ancient Roman marble head of a man, circa 1st to 3rd century CE $20k-$30k

The Galloway Viking Hoard

In 2014, a metal detectorist in southwestern Scotland made a stunning discovery. The trove of more than 100 objects, seemingly Viking and hidden around A.D. 900, became known as the Galloway Hoard. It is the richest and most varied collection of Viking-age treasures ever found in Britain or Ireland.A cluster of four decorated Viking arm rings, bound together by a smaller fifth ring. Much of the silver had been treated as bullion or 'hacksilver'

Three inches below that trove, researchers found a Carolingian pot, a lidded metal vessel buried upside down, perhaps to keep out ground water. It turned out to be packed with treasures, many carefully swathed in leather and fine textiles. Only six of these Carolingian vessels have ever been found. Scholars believe they were used during important ceremonies in the Catholic Church.

The array of curious artifacts challenged researchers. Among the more surprising finds were a gold bird-shaped pin, an Anglo-Saxon cross, a rock crystal jar made for a bishop and a lidded vessel containing imported treasures from distant lands. The gold bird pin, decidedly not Viking, was crafted with intricate detail, and would have been extremely valuable. It could only have been worn by an abbot, a bishop, or royalty. In the upper layer, the team excavated the gold bird pin as well as 67 silver ingots and arm rings.

This portable silver served as ready cash in the Viking world: the elite hacked off pieces to buy cattle or other commodities, reward loyal followers, or pay troops in Viking mercenary armies.

A silver brooch (center) and a collection of glass beads, pendants, and curios were placed inside the hoard’s lidded silver vessel.

It's thought that the hoard was buried some time in the mid-ninth or tenth century. The items among the treasure originated across a wide geographic area that includes Ireland, Scandinavia, and central Europe.

Medieval texts date the arrival of the Vikings in the British Isles to the 790s A.D., when fierce raiders appeared along the coasts, plundering rich monasteries and terrorizing local communities. During the three centuries that followed, ambitious Viking chiefs and their followers arrived to conquer and colonize territories in England, Ireland, Wales, and Scotland, until they and their descendants were finally defeated or assimilated. Around the early 10th century Viking forces had suffered a serious setback in Ireland, and local Galloway folklore “referred to a Viking army being defeated by a Scots army” at Galloway.

The hoard's mixture of gold, silver, glass, enamel, and textiles is unique.

An Anglo-Saxon silver cross buried for more than a millennium was revealed. The cross, decorated using black niello and gold-leaf, features engravings depicting each of the writers of the Gospels. The Galloway Hoard is regarded as one of the richest and most significant finds of Viking objects ever found in the UK. The cross was made in Northumbria -- what is now northern England and southern Scotland -- in the 9th century for a high-ranking cleric.

The Galloway hoard is the richest collection of Viking-age objects ever found in Britain or Ireland. One of the artefacts was within a pouch that was mangled and misshapen. Its contents were restored, revealing an extraordinary Roman rock crystal jar. Research suggests that the rock crystal carving was Roman. It was perhaps 600 years old when it was transformed into a jar.

Rock crystal is unusual in itself. It was greatly prized in the ancient world for its transparency and translucency. It was associated with purity. An unexpected Latin inscription appears on the jar’s base. Spelled out in gold letters, it translates as “Bishop Hyguald had me made”. This is evidence that some of the hoard may have come from a church in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria. Research into the Galloway Hoard has uncovered the name of one of its original owners on a silver arm ring. An expert examining Anglo-Saxon runic inscriptions on arm rings in the hoard found the name “Ecgbeorht”, which would be Egbert in its modern form.

The Oxus Treasure

The Oxus treasure is a hoard of 180 pieces of metalwork in gold and silver from the Achaemenid Persian period, found by the Oxus river in 1880 in Takht-i Kuwad, Tadjikistan. It is the world's most important collection of gold and silver to have survived from the Achaemenid period.

The Achaemenid Dynasty built an empire (559–330 BC) which, at its peak, spanned three continents.

Cyrus the Great

The Achaemenid dynasty ruled the Persian Empire, which stretched from Egypt and Thrace in the west to Central Asia and the Indus Valley in the east. In land mass, the Achaemenid Empire was the largest empire the ancient world had ever seen until 331-330 BC, when Alexander the Great toppled it on his eastward march from the Mediterranean through Afghanistan to India. The Persian Empire became the first to govern many ethnic groups on the principle of equal rights, as long as taxes were paid and the peace kept.

The king didn't interfere with the local customs and religions of its subject states, a unique quality that fostered rapid growth.

The treasure is thought to have once been housed in a temple which was looted and the hoard then buried to be retrieved later. The British Museum has nearly all the surviving metalwork from the hoard.