I will be quite happy to add this to my 12 Caesar's collection. It is a denarius of Vespasian minted in Tarraco. The new RIC II, 1 lists this as R3-only one known ( in the Barcelona collection). I noticed that David Atherton also has one in his FAC gallery. I love the style of the portrait. To me this looks nothing like the Rome mint Pax seated examples. Please feel free to post your coins of Vespasian or anything related. Vespasianus, 69-79.Denar 69/70, Tarraco (Tarragona). Kopf / Pax mit Zweig und Caduceus auf Thron. RIC II/1, 1312 3.41 g.Äußerst selten Sehr schön - vorzüglich
Cool! Looks like a more youthful Vitellius. I wonder if the engraver had not yet seen the new emperor? Very nice "old cabinet toning" and iridescence!
I like any Vaspasian Denarius, but especially this one. I especially like the early style "we've never seen this new emperor so here is a generic Roman, don't worry, we'll fix it next year" portrait.
Fantastic coin Andrew! However, I do have one caveat - I'm not 100% convinced our coins are actually from Tarraco! It is very difficult to provenance these early types to a particular provincial mint based on style alone. The early denarii of Vespasian from Rome varied so much in style it is almost futile to do so. Regardless, that is one heck of a lovely coin - Rome or Tarraco no matter!
Thanks very much David. I wanted to hear from you regarding this coin. I am willing to accept that it might not be a coin of Tarraco, but the chance that it was, was enough. What mainly attracted me to the coin was the very unusual portrait. I saw your example before buying. I also looked at the entry in the new RIC. What ultimately persuaded me that this was probably a Tarraco coin was the remnants of a dot between COS and ITER. Of course it just could be part of the "S" instead.
Congrats on the score, @Orfew. Your coin came up right after the lot I won and I almost impulsive hit the bid button on it too. It’s a winner!
Thanks @zumbly That Judea Capta was a very nice capture. Congrats! I am glad that you decided not to take mine also!
Great coin, with a wonderful toning to it, congrats : good start for 2018 My CONCORDIA example Vespasian, Denarius Rome mint, AD 72-73 IMP CAES VESP A VG PM COS IIII, laureate head right CONCORDIA AVGVSTI, Concordia seated left on throne, holding patera and cornucopia 3.37 gr Ref : RSC # 74 Q
Great find Andrew. Looks like us Flavian collectors have been finding some really great coins lately. Congrats. Regardless of mint it's wonderful.
Very nice find, Andrew, , and a special portrait for sure. Congratulations on your 1st of 2018! Even if attribution to Tarraco of your coin may not be certain (as David mentions), it for sure is a lovely coin. Tarraco produced some very interesting portraits with their own 'character', specially those of Galba, which deviated markedly from those of the Rome mint. Here is a denarius of Vitellius from Tarraco: corroded, but note the particular portrait. My 'controversial' denarius of Galba - Hispania Finally, one of my favorite denarius of Vespasian - Judaea Capta: Rome mint. ,