It's difficult to find Flavian quinarii with good eye-appeal. Many are fairly worn and beat-up or have striking and conditional issues. With that in mind, I was fortunate enough to obtain a most charming Titus Caesar quinarius in excellent style with superb eye-appeal. Titus as Caesar [Vespasian] AR Quinarius, 1.37g Rome mint, 75(?) AD Obv: T CAESAR VESPASIAN; Head of Titus, laureate, bearded, r. Rev: VICTORIA AVGVSTI; Victory adv. r., with wreath and palm RIC 807 (C). BMC 313. RSC 373. BNC 275. Acquired from Dr. Busso Peus Nachf., October 2020. Vespasian's moneyer's struck a great issue of undated quinarii in 75, possibly in conjunction with the opening of his Temple of Peace. These tiny coins may have been distributed during special occasions. Two standard Victory types (seated or advancing) were employed along with various variant legend spellings and orientations. The variations are: obverse legend - VESPASIANVS or more commonly for Titus Caesar VESPASIAN; reverse legend - AVGVSTI or less commonly AVGVST. The reverse legend can also either be oriented from low r. or high l. Pinning down this undated issue is a little tricky. The quinarii struck before 75 have AVGVSTI in the reverse legend, while those struck after 75 use the shorter AVGVST. The undated issue employs both forms, therefore it fits neatly to 75. This Titus Caesar quinarius is one of the more common variants struck for him during the issue. Show off your quinarii!
Nice understatement David...LOL. I doubt whether any Titus quinarii are actually common. Here is mine of Domitian. It is the only Flavian quinarius I own. RIC 560 [VESP] (R2) Very few examples known. Oh yes...this one was actually not misattributed. If you actively search for these you quickly find that they are very difficult to find and when you do there is a good likelihood that they are misattributed.
Wow! Nice one, @David Atherton! My collection is particularly heavy in the second and third century, so I don't have any imperial quinarii (I can't afford them!). My only quinarius is this Republican one. Is there anyone who doesn't have one of these? Gaius Egnatuleius, c.f. 97 BC. Roman Republican AR quinarius, 1.68 g, 14.6 mm, 11 h. Rome, 97 BC. Obv: C·EGNATVLEI·C·F·Q, Laureate head of Apollo, right. Rev: Victory left, inscribing shield attached to trophy; beside trophy, carnyx; Q in center field; ROMA in exergue. Refs: Crawford RRC 333/1; Sydenham CRR 588; BMCRR1 1076-77; Sear RCV 213.
And what about a AE Quinarius from another era ! Allectus Quinarius 293-296 AD Camolodunum 18mm 2.28g RIC V 128
Big CONGRATS, @David Atherton ! I enjoy collecting Quinarii, and have several. Here are a couple: RI Vespasian 69-79 CE AR Quinarius Victory seated wreath palm 1.35g, 13.5mm RIC 802 Rare RI Caracalla 198-217 AR Quinarius CE 213 1.3g 13.6mm Laureate - Victory Wreath Palm RIC IV 101 RSC 450 RARE RI GALBA 68-69 BCE AR Quinarius Lugdunum mint laureate r Victory globe stdng left 15mm 1.5g RIC 131 scarce RI Hadrian AR Quinarius 1.3g, 14mm Rome, AD 119-122 cuirassed laureate COS III Victory seated wreath palm RIC 108a
Celtic, Central Gaul. Lingones. Circa 120-50 BC. AR Quinarius (12mm, 1.61g, 7h). Obv: Helmeted head of Roma left. Rev: Horse left; KAΛ above, [ЄΔ] below. Ref: Depeyrot, NC IV, 285; D&T 3196; CCCBM II 304-15; Forrer 188. Compact flan, letters underneath horse uncertain.
Alegandron, Caracalla's obverse has mistakenly been coupled with a TR P XV rev. die of Septimius, so date is 207, not 213. By 213 Caracalla would already have acquired a beard (appears in 209) and the title BRIT (assumed in 210). A neat item to acquire, in any case!
