'O' what a great coin.

Whenever I have the chance to grab an 'O' mint denarius I will. I only had one in my collection and this one makes 2. Some speculate that the 'O' mint is Ephesus but no one is 100% sure where these were minted. According to RIC "The location is uncertain and the reason for its production is mysterious". The 'O' is under the bust and is indistinct on my coin. It is near the truncation.

I know the corn is worn and has only a partial legend on the obverse, but I will still gladly welcome this one into my collection. I have always been attracted to the FIDES PUBL
denarii. I would love to find the Domitian version.


Please post your coins of Vespasian and thanks for looking.










Vespasian (69 - 79 A.D.) silver denarius. Ephesus mint, 76 A.D.
19mm., 3,00g
Obv: IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG, laureate head right.
Rev: FIDES PVBL, hands clasped over caduceus. two poppies and two corn-ears.
Catawiki auction May 7, 2019 Sold by Lucernae

 

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My ‘O’ mint

 

Blasphemy, that coin is a sin!

Just kidding, that is a very lovely modern coin. Just goes to show that modern people are just as capable of making beautiful coinage like our ancient predecessors....when they copy ancient themes

 

Nice pick-up Andrew! The wear doesn't distract from the overall eye-appeal.

And of course it's much rarer than the one struck at Rome.

I believe I've already posted my Vespasian and Titus variants of the type elsewhere on CT. So instead, here's my Domitian Caesar.



Domitian as Caesar
AR Denarius, 3.26g
Ephesus (?) mint, 76 AD (Vespasian)
RIC 1495 (R). BMC 491. RSC - . RPC 1467 (4 spec.).
Obv: CAESAR AVG F DOMITIANVS; Head of Domitian, laureate, bearded, r. 'o' mint mark below neck
Rev: FIDES PVBL; Hands clasped over caduceus, two poppies and two corn ears
Ex Solidus, eBay, 29 November 2013.

 

This is my most photogenic Vespasian:


Vespasian, AD 69-79.
Roman AR denarius, 3.18 g, 18.4 mm, 6 h.
Rome, AD 73.
Obv: IMP CAES VESP AVG P M COS IIII CEN, laureate head, right.
Rev: SALVS AVG, Salus seated left, holding patera, left hand at side.
Refs: RIC 58; RIC 2.1 522; BMCRE 87-89; Cohen/RSC 432; CBN 76; RCV 2307.

 

What a lovely portrait of Domitian. I would like one of those.

 

A very nice portrait of Vespasian.

 

TITUS
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: T CAES IMP VESP CENS, laureate head right, "o" beneath neck
REVERSE: FIDES PVBL, hands clasped over caduceus, two poppies and two corn-ears
Struck at Uncertain Asian Mint or Ephesus, 76AD
2.9g, 19mm
RIC V 1485 (Vesp), RPC 1459
Ex David Atherton; ex Harry Sneh Collection; ex Sayles; ex Lavender

 

Nice find Andrew! I have several "O" mint Flavians. Here's one:



CAESAR AVG F DOMITIANVS
Laureate head right

FIDES PVBL
Hands clasped over caduceus, two poppies and two corn ears

Uncertain eastern "O" mint

76 AD

3.21g

RIC 1495 (R)

Ex-TC collection, Ex-Calgary Coin

 

Nice coin! This is my Vespasian. With an early portrait from the first half of 70. Vespasian 69-79 . AR Denarius . IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG. laureate head to the right. Vespasian as. August. Imperator Caesar Vespasian August. COS ITER TR POT. Pax to the left with branch and staff. Struck. January-June 70. In Rome 18mm 3,46g Ric 29 Ex Romancoinshop.

 

or even when they come up with their own designs:

Forgive the blasphemy, but one of these days I'm going to own one of these suckers.

 

And one could argue that the American Liberty is really a hybrid between the Anunnaki Goddess Inanna and the Roman Goddess Libertas.

Is there any truth to that? Judge for yourself.




Even holding the tree branch is nothing new really...

 

The statue of Liberty was originally intended as a commission for the khedive of Egypt, standing at Port Said in celebration of the opening of the Suez Canal. However, when he couldn't pay it was re-purposed and sent to America. Little known fact.

Here's my Vespasian Alexandrian tet:

Vespasian (A.D. 69-79) Billon Tetradrachm of Alexandria, Egypt. 26mm 11.98 grams

Obverse: Laureate bust right, LB in front (Year 2, 69-70 A.D.)

AYTOK KAIΣ ΣEBA OYVEΣΠAΣIANOY

Reverse: Nike Advancing Left, holding wreath and palm branch

Reference: RPC 2412, Koln 276, Milne 393, BMCGr 236, Emmet 205.2, Dattari 360

 

I did a little work on this series and what I noticed that there were a number of issues. After the EPHE issue there was the star * and then the star /annulet issue */o I thought that it would seem most likely that the annulet o issue probably would follow. I did notice some similarities in the portraiture in some of the annulet issues to those in the previous * and */o issues. I mentioned this to Carradice and that how I became a footnote in RIC
Vespasian Denarius Annulet issue RIC 1477
Domitian Denarius Annulet issue RIC 1491
Titus Denarius Star issue RIC 1459

 

Very nice examples Terence.

 

Although I tend to agree the inclusion of an annulet points to Ephesus as a likely candidate for the mystery 'o' mint, many of the annulet and star coin portraits from 74 don't look anything like the 'o' mint's from 76. Which of course is to be expected with a two year gap in production.

74 AD Star and Annulet Issue


Vespasian
AR Denarius, 3.49g
Ephesus mint, 74 AD
RIC 1464 (R2). BMC p. 99, †. RSC 68 corr. RPC 852 (5 spec.).
Obv: IMP CAESAR VESPAS AVG COS V TR P P P; Head of Vespasian, laureate, r., annulet at tip of bust
Rev: CONCORDIA AVG; Ceres, std. l., on ornate high-backed chair, with corn ears and poppy and cornucopiae; below throne, annulet; in exergue, star
Ex Savoca, eBay, 2 March 2018.


Vespasian
AR Denarius, 3.02g
Ephesus mint, 74 AD
RIC 1465 (R2). BMC - . RSC - . RPC - .
Obv: IMP CAESAR VESPAS AVG COS V TR P P P; Head of Vespasian, laureate, r.
Rev: PACI AVGVSTAE; Victory adv. r., with wreath and palm; at lower l., annulet, at lower r., star
Ex Ancient Treasures, eBay, 26 July 2015.



Titus as Caesar
AR Denarius, 2.74g
Ephesus mint, 74 AD (Vespasian)
RIC 1469 (R2). BMC 477. RSC - . RPC 856 var.
Obv: IMP T CAESAR COS III; Head of Titus, laureate, bearded, r., annulet at tip of bust
Rev: CONCORDIA AVG; Ceres std. l., on ornate high-backed chair, with corn ears and poppy and cornucopiae; below throne, annulet; in exergue, star
Ex Gemini IX, 8 January 2012, Harry N. Sneh Collection, lot 429



Titus as Caesar
AR Denarius, 3.00g
Ephesus Mint, 74 AD (Vespasian)
RIC 1470(C). BMC 479. RSC 123. RPC 857 (3 spec.).
Obv: IMP T CAESAR COS III; Head of Titus, laureate, bearded, r.
Rev: PACI AVGVSTAE (from high r.); Victory adv. r., with wreath and palm; at lower r. star; below, annulet
Ex Harry N. Sneh Collection.



76 AD Annulet ('o' Mint) Issue


Vespasian
AR Denarius, 2.78g
Ephesus (?) mint, 76 AD
RIC 1473 (R). BMC 482. RSC 114a. RPC 1451 (4 spec.).
Obv: IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG; Head of Vespasian, laureate, r., a small 'o' mint mark below neck
Rev: COS VII above; Pegasus r.
Ex Welch Collection. Acquired from eBay, January 2013.

Vespasian
AR Denarius, 3.48g
Ephesus (?) mint, 76 AD
RIC 1475 (R). BMC 490. RSC 163a. RPC 1452 (6 spec.).
Obv: IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG; Head of Vespasian, laureate, r., a small 'o' mint mark below neck
Rev: FIDES PVBL; Hands clasped over caduceus, two poppies and two corn ears
Acquired from Malter Galleries, December 2010.


Titus as Caesar
AR Denarius, 3.29g
Ephesus (?) mint, 76 AD (Vespasian)
RIC 1481 (R). BMC 485. RSC 61. RPC 1457 (4 spec.).
Obv: T CAESAR IMP VESP CENS; Head of Titus, laureate, bearded, r. 'o' mint mark below neck off flan
Rev: COS V across field;Eagle stg. facing on garlanded altar, wings open, head r.
Ex Harry N. Sneh Collection.


Titus as Caesar
AR Denarius, 3.04g
Ephesus (?) mint, 76 AD (Vespasian)
RIC 1486 (R2). BMC - . RSC - . RPC 1460 (2 spec.).
Obv: T CAES IMP VESP CENS; Head of Titus, laureate, bearded, r. 'o' mint mark below neck off flan
Rev: PON MAX TR P COS V; Winged caduceus
Ex Ancient Treasures, eBay, March 2011.

 

I am wondering if the Titus */o RIC 1470 is done by the same guy who did my Domintian annulet RIC 1491

 

Thanks for the "o" coin post and all of the great "o" coins - especially the RIC 1491 of @Terence Cheesman. I have no "o", here's a Vespasian - nothing rare as this is "C3" in RIC II - extremely common - 10 time more common than common in hoards - I do like the portrait, and the pious Vespasian on his curule chair with his scepter and olive branch on the reverse.

Vespasian, AR Denarius
Rome, AD 73
Obv: IMP CAES VESP AVG CENS inscribed counter clockwise outwardly, laureate head right
Rev: PONTIF MAXIM inscribed counter clockwise outwardly, Vespasian seated right on curule chair, feet resting on footstool, holding scepter and olive-branch
Size: 3.49g, 19.9mm
Ref: RIC 546

 

It's possible! If not the same mint, the two issues probably shared the same engravers.

Compare that Titus Caesar RIC 1470 to the 'o' mint Vespasian RIC 1473. Very similar, which is why I posted them!

 

Here is my o mint 1473.