Need help identifying Roman coin [opgelost]

Hello good people of Numista.

Really hope you could help me identify this pretty beaten Roman coin. I tried wildwinds, but don't have enough knowledge and get lost in all the variants.

The coin is bronze, 26-7mm and 9.5g. I think it could be Nero, but not sure.

Thank you in advance

Nerva AE As. IMP NERVA CAES AVG PM TR P ? COS ? P P, laureate head right / AEQVITAS AVGVST S-C, Aequitas standing left, holding scales and cornucopiae.

There are a few different coins that fit this description. The difference between them is the number after TR P which indicates the number of times he held Tribunitian power and COS indicating how many times he was consul. I can't read it on your coin which is why I put question marks in the description. Look for RIC 51, RIC 77 and RIC 94 on WildWinds. Try to match them against your coin: https://www.wildwinds.com/coins/ric/nerva/t.html

Hi,

Thank you for your post, it was very helpful. However, I'm pretty sure it doesn't say AEQVITAS. Now you've showed me where to look and I can clearly see the first three letters being FOR. It is possible to say FORTVNA AVGVST SC? If yes, does that makes it either RIC 60 or RIC 83, or I'm totally mistaken?

Thanks

Yes, it's very possible. I couldn't read anything except the O or Q off the reverse and went by the standing figure holding a cornucopiae alone. I'm sure you can read the letters in hand much better than I can from the photo. 🙂

RIC 60 or 83 it is. There are both as and sestertius within those two RIC entries. Judging from the coin's size and weight yours is an as.

Thank you. But in the WildWinds listing, from what I can see, they don't have any numbers after TR P. Mine has II after TR P and at the moment I'm working on the number after COS. One side looks a bit better after gentle clean with water and toothpick.

What is your preferred method of cleaning, if you don't mind me asking?

Also, do you think it is worth keeping, as the condition is not that great? It sounds a bit shallow, but I like my coins to be slightly more readable.

Thanks

Ouch, that was too harsh. 🙁

Personally I don't think the coin needed cleaning. The coins details were already visible and it had a nice patina. I don't see how cleaning would add anything to the coin but if you insist I'd put it in olive oil for a week or two and just dry it with a soft paper towel. Anything harsher than that risks removing some of the coins patina or surface like what happened to yours.

The coin is most likely a RIC 60 variant. There are a couple of different examples on WildWinds, try matching yours to one of them. 

As for keeping it it's entirely up to you. Depends on your collecting goals and how it fits into your collection. Do you need a Nerva as? Obverse legend is readable so the emperor can be identified, it's in decent shape with no significant damage and it's an authentic coin. I collect the Siscia mint so I don't need it. If I needed a Nerva as I'd keep it, at least until I found an upgrade.

Thank you very much. I will try the olive oil and see how it goes.