From Art to Artifact:  Making Sense of Roman Coins

Nero appears on coinage from the time of his adolescence through his adult life, and comparing his portraits through the years allows a study of how he aged, or at least how his age was presented to the Roman public.

Nero’s portrait first appeared on coinage in the year following his adoption by the Emperor Claudius, when the 14-year-old was named Princeps Juventutis (51 CE).

Nero, later as Praefectus Urbi, appears with more mature features (e.g. an Adam’s apple) three years later in 54 CE on an aureus with his mother Agrippina.

This silver denarius minted between 67 and 68 CE, when Nero was in his early thirties and near the end of his life, shows the emperor with a beard, large shoulders and a much fuller face.