Another recent addition that I was thrilled to receive! Vespasian's sestertii from early 71 are quite rare - even more so with a reverse die recycled from Galba's reign! Vespasian Æ Sestertius, 26.55g Rome mint, 71 AD Obv: IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG P M T P P P COS III; Bust of Vespasian, laureate, draped, r. Rev: SALVS AVGVSTA; S C in exergue; Salus std. l., with patera and sceptre RIC 111 (R2). BMC -. BNC -. Ex Harlan J Berk, MBS 225, lot 7. Ex Curtis Clay Collection. Ex Tom Cederlind. An extremely rare sestertius struck for Vespasian between January and March 71. Curtis Clay had this to say about the piece which I cannot improve upon: 'Kraay in his illuminating Oxford dissertation, summarized in the new RIC, p. 22, established that Vespasian's sestertii of 71 (COS III) fall into three successive groups marked by progressive abbreviations of the emperor's name, and he suggested the following dates for the groups: IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG P M T P P P COS III: Jan.-March/April 71; Same but VESPASIAN and TR P for T P: March/April-July/August 71; Same but VESPAS: July/August-Dec. 71. The reverse SALVS AVGVSTA S C occurs mainly in the third and latest issue of the year. In the earlier groups this type is very rare. Obv. VESPASIANVS, with bust laureate and draped; the bust types and portrait features are much more varied in this early group than in the two later ones. Rev. SALVS AVGVSTA S C, from the only die known for this type in the VESPASIANVS issue. Kraay discovered that this is actually a rev. die of Galba's, engraved and used by Galba in 68 (Kraay's P 61), now reused by Vespasian about 2 1/2 years later!' An utterly fantastic piece! RIC describes many of the sestertii from this issue as 'monumental', I think the above coin fits that description perfectly. Missing from the BM and Paris collections. Here it is in hand. As always, thanks for looking!
