I recently acquired this very rare denarius struck for Vespasian in the first few months of his reign. Vespasian AR Denarius Uncertain Western Mint, 69-70 AD RIC 1345 (R2), BMC - , RSC - Obv: IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVGVSTV; Head of Vespasian, laureate, r. Rev: LIBERTAS PVBLICA; Libertas stg. l., with pileus and rod Many mints were operating during the civil war of 68/69 in the west and it is sometimes difficult to pin down certain issues to a specific mint. This Libertas type with an unusual AVGVSTV ending the obverse legend is one such coin and was totally unknown until recently. The reverse type suggests Spain, as does the portrait style - which is very similar to the gold and bronze issues from Tarraco. However, RIC notes that this variety of the type has no known Spanish provenance, unlike the other Libertas type (see my V1339) attributed to Spain. The coin's theme is a civil war one and most certainly was struck very early in Vespasian's reign. Whatever mint struck this coin, it certainly had talented die engravers.
I saw that coin on Forvm first, and couldn't restrain for comenting on it : it's really a tremendous portrait, especially considering the rarity of it A wonderful addition to a wonderful collection (again, should I add ) Q
Beautiful coin! Congratulations! Today there is news of a Trajan aureus found by a hiker in Israel...
