This aureus illustrates the innovations of Nero’s reign, as well as the invocation of traditional elements. While on the obverse the bust of a young Nero only slightly overshadows that of his mother, Agrippina the Younger, who is believed to have poisoned her husband and Nero’s stepfather, the emperor Claudius. For the first time on Roman coinage, another person appears alongside a living emperor – and a woman, no less! It was a significant stylistic change in a very conservative and patriarchal society, and perhaps this novel move is revealing of both how involved Agrippina attempted to be in her son’s rule, and also why she was resented by many. This coin was probably struck in the first year of the teenage Nero’s reign, when his mother was still heavily influential. The reverse, however, hearkens back to more conventional images, such as the elephant quadriga motif, used also on the coins of Tiberius, and Nero’s deified predecessors and relatives, Divine Augustus and Divine Claudius. These more old-fashioned elements on the reverse, along with their emphasis on revered familial connections to Nero, certainly would have helped him to be seen as more authoritative and suited for his role as Princeps. Unfortunately, he would later alienate the senate enough to be declared a public enemy in 68 CE, and die shortly thereafter. Nero is the last Julio-Claudian emperor – an end of the dynasty celebrated on the reverse of this aureus. KHK.