Budget Vitellius

Here is a not so perfect Vitellius, although the portrait is nice. The reverse is worse for wear, but I have a feeling that despite that it won't be a hard coin to sell at the budget price I paid for it when I upgrade it in the future (if I even bother to upgrade it as the 12 Caesars era really isn't my area of focus).


RS86185. Silver denarius, RIC I 90 (S), RSC II 18, BMCRE I 20, BnF III 52, Hunter I 8, SRCV I 2196 var. (obv. leg.), F, tight flan, reverse slightly off center, scratches, scrapes, small edge cuts, some porosity, weight 3.156 g, maximum diameter 18.9 mm, die axis 180o, Rome mint, 69 A.D.; obverse A VITELLIVSGERMIMP AVG TR P, laureate head right; reverseCONCORDIA P R (harmony with the people of Rome), Concordia seated left, patera in right hand, cornucopia in left hand; scarce

This year I've got lots of my budget tied with home renovations, my new found love of the hobby of model building, and a few other things, so probably the bulk of my buys will be opportune budget buys such as my recent Otho and this Vitellius. No top 20 shinny coins this December....LOL. Oh well, hope you are not disappointed.

So now there's just Nero, Galba, and Caligula left. I think I'll tackle Nero in March, and see if I can find a sweet deal on a nice budget Caligula by mid-2018, and will try for Galba by the end of 2018. If I do nothing else, that will be my goal, finishing the 12 Caesars by the end of 2018 so I can move back to my main focus: Completing my Gallic Empire and Britanic Empire emperors set, and acquiring more Gordian III and other 3rd Century "Crisis" emperors.

 

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Great coin and awesome portrait for a budget coin!

 

Cool Vitellius. Worn coins have character. I like that you have multiple collecting goals that you can move between depending on your budget and circumstances. These are all interesting sets that you're working on. I have also have a budget Vitellius that was included in a group lot. I bought the lot just for one coin, and it wasn't this one! If I ever decide to build a Twelve-Caesars lowball set, I can't do much better/worse than to start with this coin. If someone was able to build a Twelve-Caesars set consisting only of low-grade culls from group lots, I would find that very interesting. Here's the coin, same type as yours:

Vitellius. AR denarius, Rome mint, struck 16 April – 22 December 69 CE; 18mm, 2.30g, 6h. BMCRE 20, RIC (R2), RSC II 18. Obv: A VITELLIVS GERM IMP AVG TR P; head laureate right. Rx: CONCOR–DIA P R; Concordia seated left, holding patera and cornucopia. F.

 

Like all the other emperor's of the year of the four, any Viltellius is good.

VITELLIUS
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: A VITELLIVS GERM IMP AVG TR P, laureate head right
REVERSE: XV VIR SACR FAC Tripod, raven below, dolphin above
Struck at Rome, Apr/Dec 69AD
2.9g, 19mm
RIC 109, BMC 39, S 2201

 

I think that's a darn nice looking coin, especially for a "budget" coin. I know what too many hobbies can do to a coin budget.

 

It's a fine addition.


Vitellius (69 A.D.)
AR Denarius
O: A VITELLIVS GERMAN IMP TR P, Laureate head right.
R: S P Q R / OB / C S in three lines within wreath.
Rome Mint, 69 A.D.
3g
18.5mm
RIC I 83; RSC 86

 

Looks like good silver, great pick up.

 

Nice budget example, good portrait.

 

Thank you all for the compliments and for sharing your sweet Vitellius coinage.

For those interested in the costs of a set of 12 Caesars, and not sure whether to jump in or not, here is my take. I've confined myself to Imperial bronze and silver coins bearing the portrait of the emperor. With those constraints, I'm in $2130 for the set of 9, which considering my superb Julius Caesar lifetime denarius, sweet Augustus silver denarius, and the quality of my Flavian coinage, I'm actually surprised how little I'm in for everything. I rather expected to be near $3,000 already with all the coins I have so far...but some things have helped me along the road.

I really lucked out on my Julius Caesar lifetime portrait denarius. I'll fess up and say my costs were somewhat noticeably below the $1000 mark, which given similar ones selling at auction and vcoins for $1,400 or more, was plain highway robbery. The Otho and Vitellius were also good deals, as I would have paid $100+ more on each on vcoins than what I actually paid for them. Add some lucky breaks with finding some modest but still respectable budget Claudius and Tiberius (paid less than $290 for those two combined), and there goes the $2,130.00.

Now, if I can get a decent Nero bronze for around $250 and a budget but respectable Caligula bronze for around $300, that leaves me $320 for a modest imperial As of Galba (which is doable with some patience), and I can wrap up a respectable 12 Caesars Imperial Portraits $3000 budget set that I can be happy with and live with, without any regrets or needs to upgrade (unless a really good deal on an upgrade ever pops up...you never know).

For those in a more limited budget, if you go provincial on some of these guys you can probably do a 12 Caesars set for around $2,200. And if you are ok with a Julius Caesar non-portrait budget denarius, you might just be able to bring the costs below $2,000. So it is doable even for those with super tight budgets. Might take you a while, but it is definitely doable if you are willing to make those compromises. I encourage you to try...it is a fun set to hunt for and build.

 

WELL done @Sallent ! Once you get going, I KNEW you were going to get more of the Seutonius 12 at a "faster" pace! You look like you are snaring some excellent values. Congrats.


RI Vitellius 69 CE AR Denarius Pont Max Vesta Seated RIC 107

 

How's this for progress? Exactly 1 year ago I only had 2 first century imperial coins...Vespasian and Domitian.

 

Yes, well done @Sallent !


Vitellius, Denarius Rome mint, July - December 20, AD69
A VITELLIVS GERMAN IMP TR P, Laureate head of Vitellius right
XV VIR SACR FAC, Tripod-lebes with dolphin lying right on top and raven standing right below
3.43 gr, 16-18 mm
Ref : RCV # 2201var, Cohen cf # 110 et suiv, RIC I # 86 (this example illustrated in Wildwinds)

I'm pretty sure the 3000 $ suit would be a bit too small for my own set of 12 though

Q

 

Wow, that is one of the most amazing coins of Vitellius I've seen so far. Bet it cost a pretty penny too, though I'm sure it was well worth it.

Personally, I'm happy I chose to set a realistic (for me) goal of $3000. Finances are what they are, and I'd hate to have to abandon my other hobbies just to fund my coin hobby (even if ancient coins happen to be my favorite hobby). But you see, that's what I love about ancient coins...there is almost always something for everyone at any budget limit. Wasn't there someone in this forum that did a budget 12 Caesar's set for around $700? I seem to recall something about that.

 

Here is a Vitellius, not quite so "budget."

The type is similar to the one described by @Cucumbor , but with a different obverse legend
Denarius. 3.42 gr, 20-19 mm
Ref : RIC I 70. Sear I 2201 variety.

A VITELLIVS GERMANICVS IMP, Laureate head of Vitellius right
XV VIR SACR FAC, Tripod-lebes with dolphin lying right on top and raven standing right below
"quindecimviri sacris faciundis" The care of the Sibylline prophecies was the chief function of this college [BMC ccxxiv]

 

Wow, @Cucumbor that is a sweet Vitellius, everyones is nice
I believe it was @Topcat7 who completed a budget 12 caesars.
Nice budget addition @Sallent if I really ever try to complete the 12 set it'll be a mixed bag since the few I currently have is a mix but provincials lead the pack. Maybe someday.

 

Well, I'm at three coins of the 12 Caesars and have nine more to go. It's irritating because the collection I assembled in my teen years included all of the 12 but I sold it. So now I'm starting over at much higher prices. Still, I'd like to get all 12 of them in denarii. Great job @Sallent

 

Well, I wanted to do silver too, but the difference between an all silver imperial collection and a collection that's a mix of silver and bronze imperial, is the difference between $3000 and $7000.

Caligula is the expensive one in silver. You'd think it would have been a dude like Otho, but even the most budget beat up silver Caligula will run you near $2000 these days. And Claudius will run close to $1000 for his more common imperials in budget conditions. And budget Galba denarius are around $400 or so.

All of those are attainable to me in silver if I sell some of my duplicate emperors and only keep one coin of each emperor, and save a little for a few months on top of that...but here is the thing, for the difference in price I could afford to put together a second set of 12 Caesars in mixed bronze and silver imperial coins. Or better yet, I could afford to fill 2 dozen additional holes in my collection. Personally I'd rather do that because deep down I'm one cheap (censored). Maybe I'll do it one day, but only after I've filled many of the basic holes in my collecting areas that I'm still missing.

If you are going to go for the all silver approach, I wish you the best and I can't wait to see it.

 

Is it cheating to use a Vitellius from his early period where the mint was using Otho portraits and count it for both of them?

 

Sure. Why not. There are no rules. This is the Ancients forum, right?

 

Sweet coin Sallent!