Every once in a while I come across a coin that can be appreciated not only for its rarity, but also for its beauty. Vespasian AR Denarius, 3.28g Ephesus (?) mint, 76 AD RIC 1477A (R3), BMC - , RSC - , RPC - Obv: IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG; Head of Vespasian, laureate, r., a small 'o' mint mark below neck Rev: PON MAX TR P COS VII (from high l.); Winged caduceus A unique specimen of the caduceus type from the rare and mysterious 'o' mint. This rare variant has the reverse legend starting from the upper left, all other known examples start from the lower right. I informed Ted Buttrey of the coin and he has assigned it 1477A in the upcoming RIC II.1 Addenda. I dearly love the denarii struck at the 'o' mint because of their fine style. The tiny issue is riddled with mules and mismatched types; however, the mint's engravers more than make up for it with their beautiful portraits. It's an added bonus the coin is unique. Post any coins you feel are relevant.
I can't see the "o" below neck, but I can see the fine style of the portrait and appreciate the rarity. Good catch Q
Unfortunately the 'o' (or annulet) mint mark is off flan. In cases like this, identifying the mint comes down to style. As a side note, just like the Asia Minor mint, none of the Rome mint examples of the type have the reverse legend from high left. I wouldn't be surprised if this was the only reverse die with such an odd legend orientation.
Congrats on the find David. You must have to be constantly searching the Flavians for sale to keep coming up with these unique coins.
That most certainly is the problem with the Flavian mintmarks. Coins with the mark weak or off flan outnumber the ones that are bold. Below is a Titus with O that came to stay with me in 1994. It was sold as ex Mabbott but I do not have that catalog to check. It is my only O. https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Mabbott Collection More typical of the mintmarked coins are the three Vespasians below which I believe have the Byzantium mintmark on the reverses in varying degrees of clarity. The other one (and my only one) is this Domitian Caesar with EPE for Ephesus. I'm not a Flavian specialist but I do like the mintmarked coins.
Those are some fine examples of Flavian mintmark denarii from the east. The various marks in question are now all attributed to one mint based on die links, shared types, and similar style. They likely represent different issues from the same mint instead of separate issues from several cities. Ephesus is thought to be the location because of the EPHE mark used on one of the issues.
Beautiful coin, David! The expressiveness in the way his eye is crafted is very nice. You can actually see the pupil. Most coins just give him a droopy eyelid and leave it at that. Mr. Doug Smith @dougsmit posted a similarly nice coin with a well done eye and brow.
Man, @David Atherton , you are SLAMMIN' the Flavians! I really enjoy your posts as I enjoy the history of this series of Emperors! I do not have much to offer for the Flavians (just a few pedestrian examples). However, I really appreciate the collecting focus that you have! Nice work! Really like them. Thanks for the "learnin' "!
