The Roman Empire
Nerva, 96 – 98
Sestertius 97, Æ 24.37 g. IMP NERVA CAES AVG – P M TR P COS III P P Laureate head r. Rev. PLEBEI VRBANAE FRVMENTO CONSTITVTO S – C Modius containing six corn ears and a poppy. C 127. BMC 115. RIC 89. CBN 103.
Rare and a very interesting issue. Unusually complete and
with a finely detailed reverse composition, lovely Tiber tone and good very fine Ex Lanz 26, 1983, 546 and Triton VII, 2004, 908 sales.

Grain was the most important food source for those living in Rome, a city that likely exceeded a million people by the reign of Augustus. Since grain shortages inevitably would cause civil unrest and price spikes, measures had been taken ever since the late 2nd Century B.C. to eliminate that concern with a ‘grain dole’. It is clear from the few sources that discuss the topic that it was a contentious political issue that evolved over time from a simple price relief measure to a full entitlement program.
The first to introduce legislation of this kind was Gaius Gracchus during his first tribunate in 123-122 B.C. Gracchus’ law empowered the government to arrange a monthly grain ration (a frumentatio) that was distributed at a set price to male Roman citizens who resided in Rome. Thus, in its original context the ration had nothing to do with assisting the poor, but was aimed at assuring a steady and reasonably priced supply of grain to citizens, regardless of their economic status.
However, in 58 B.C. the frumentatio was converted into a dole by the tribune Publius Clodius Pulcher, who made it free. His measure was too politically extreme and too costly to maintain, and political battles followed concerning the number of eligible recipients (the plebs frumentaria). Augustus capped that number at about 200,000 and went to great lengths to streamline the systems for storage and distribution of grain, all of which were managed by his praefectus annonae. Interestingly, those entitled to receive the grain dole (the annona) possessed tesserae as proof of eligibility. These tesserae were possessions that could be bought, sold, or passed down by way of inheritance.
More than two centuries after the law of Gaius Gracchus had been implemented Nerva introduced his own brand of reform for the distribution of grain in Rome. The details of the program, celebrated on this sestertius depicting a modius with grain ears and a poppy, are unknown, but it likely was in line with other measures Nerva took to shore up his failing popularity. As Mattingly notes, the only direct evidence for his program is this coin type, which bears the inscription PLEBEI VRBANAE FRVMENTO CONSTITVTO (‘the fixing of supplies of grain for the plebs of Rome’), suggesting that the grain was not to be given away, but was to be distributed at a fixed price. We may, perhaps, be justified in presuming that the new price somehow was more favorable or equitable than the one set during the reign of Domitian.