OTHO
15 Jan 69 - 16 Apr 69
AR Denarius. 2.84g, 18.7mm
MINTED: Rome mint, AD 69
REF: RIC 10; Cohen 15; BMC 19
OBVERSE: IMP OTHO CAESAR AVG TR P, bare head right.
REVERSE: [SECVRITAS•P•R], Securitas standing front, head to left, holding wreath in her right hand and scepter with her left.
Notes:
Lightly toned and well-centered, sporting a bold portrait and decently clear legends on the obverse despite the circulation wear.
For collectors of a set of the "Twelve Caesars", Otho is typically the hardest emperor to obtain a coin of.
Historical Note:
Marcus Salvius Otho was the second man to sit on the throne during the Year of the Four Emperors (AD 69). He was said to have been effeminate in appearance, wearing a wig (visible on many of his coins) over his balding pate, and having all his body hair plucked out. A former intimate of Nero, he lost his wife, Poppaea Sabina, to the emperor and was sent away to govern distant Lusitania. He supported Galba after the death of Nero, but was disillusioned when the elderly emperor named another as his heir. Praetorians in his pay murdered Galba and Otho took his place on the throne.
He reigned for only 95 days. When his troops clashed inconclusively with those of Vitellius, the rebelling governor of Germania, Otho chose to commit suicide, it is said, to prevent the further loss of Roman lives in a civil war.
OTHO . AD 69 . AR Denarius . Securitas . *Rarest of the Twelve Caesars*
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