Nerva. AD 96-98. AV Aureus (18mm, 7.53 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 97. IMP NERVΛ CΛES ΛVG P M TR P COS III P P, laureate head right / LIBERTΛS PVBLICΛ, Libertas, draped, standing left, holding pileus in right hand and vindicta (liberation rod) in left. RIC II 19; Calicó 976; BMCRE p. 6, 46 note; BN 31; Biaggi 458; Jameson –; Mazzini 112. Hairlines, surface and edge marks. Good VF.

From the Provence Collection.

According to A Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins by John Melville Jones, “Libertas”, the vindicta, which Libertas carries, was “the rod with which a slave was touched during the ceremony of manumission or liberation.”