Roman Empire: silver denarius of Vespasian; commemorative issue struck by Titus ca. 80-81 AD

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by lordmarcovan, May 20, 2018.

?

How interesting/appealing do you find this coin, whether or not you're an expert? (1=worst, 10=best)

  1. 10

    30.8%
  2. 9

    28.2%
  3. 8

    33.3%
  4. 7

    5.1%
  5. 6

    2.6%
  6. 5

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  7. 4

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  8. 3

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  9. 2

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  10. 1

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  1. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    Roman Empire: silver denarius of Vespasian; commemorative issue struck by Titus ca. 80-81 AD
    01-Vespasian-frame.png
    Obverse: DIVVS AVGVSTVS VESPASIANVS, laureate head of Vespasian right.
    Reverse: Two capricorns supporting shield inscribed S C, celestial globe below.
    Issuer: Titus, Roman emperor (79-81 AD).
    Specifications: Silver, 19.3 mm, 3.541 g, die axis 180 degrees.

    Grade: NGC AU; Strike 5/5, Surface 4/5; cert. #4280918-004. Purchased raw.
    Reference: RIC II-1 Titus 357; RSC II 497; BMCRE II 129; BnF III 101; SRCV I 2569.*
    Provenance: ex-Forum Ancient Coins, 27 November 2015. Prior provenance to Jeff Michniak Collection.*

    Notes: This is a posthumous Vespasian commemorative. It was struck by his son and successor Titus, after Vespasian's consecration with the title "Divus". Vespasian had foreseen this deification, and famously quipped on his deathbed, "Vae, puto deus fio." ("Dear me, I think I'm becoming a god".)
    Comments: Forum Ancient Coins called this coin
    “the nicest example of this type handled by Forum to date”. An only marginally nicer example brought 1,300 CHF (approx. $1,340 USD) around the time I bought this one for less than a third as much.

    01-Vespasian-frame.png 02-Vespasian-black.png 03-Vespasian-gradient.png 04-Vespasian-white.png 05-Vespasian-coinscape.png 06-Vespasian-shadowbox1.png 07-Vespasian-shadowbox2.png 08-Vespasian-obv.png 09-Vespasian-rev.png 10-Vespasian-slab.png

    044900S
     
  2. Avatar

    Guest User Guest



    to hide this ad.
  3. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    There was an earlier (2016) thread about this coin, but it was easier to create a new one than to retool the old one to my new format.

    Post your Vespasian or capricorn pieces, as you wish.
     
    Ancient Aussie likes this.
  4. Ancient Aussie

    Ancient Aussie Well-Known Member

    WOW. Perfect with a nice large flan.
     
    lordmarcovan likes this.
  5. David Atherton

    David Atherton Flavian Fanatic

    A superb specimen no doubt! The cross hatching on the globe is rarely seen.

    The reverse type comes in a couple of variants. The most common one depicts a small shield with truncated capricorns, such as your example. The other variant shows a large shield with the capricorns criss-crossed with tails. RIC makes no distinction between the two.


    T357c.jpg
    Divus Vespasian
    AR Denarius, 3.26g
    Rome mint, 79-80 AD
    RIC T357 (C2). BMC T129. RSC 497.
    Obv: DIVVS AVGVSTVS VESPASIANVS; Head of Vespasian, laureate, r.
    Rev: Capricorns, l. and r., crossed, supporting round shield inscribed S C : below, globe
    Acquired from Civitas Galleries, August 2016.
     
  6. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    Gorgeous coins, both of them!
     
    David Atherton and lordmarcovan like this.
  7. PlanoSteve

    PlanoSteve Well-Known Member

    LordM, really nice - I voted "9" rather than "10" only because, like in some (subjective) Olympic events, the early performers get "penalized" just in case there is a better performer later! Otherwise, this is a "10" all day long!
     
    lordmarcovan likes this.
  8. Bing

    Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

    My fouree example under Titus Titus 1.jpg . Wanna trade?
     
  9. Bert Gedin

    Bert Gedin Well-Known Member

    Sorry, Bing, not today, thanks !
     
    Roman Collector and lordmarcovan like this.
  10. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    That IS pretty cool fourree, though. I'm a bit too absorbed with aesthetics to collect those, personally, but I have to admit that on the historical curiosity scale, they're pretty neat.
     
  11. Bert Gedin

    Bert Gedin Well-Known Member

    Many thanks, lordmarcovan, for your complimentary remarks re. a comment of mine. I'm sure that is worthy of a gold coin. Problem is, I don't have any gold coins !
     
    lordmarcovan likes this.
  12. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    Do you mean that bizarre "Best Answer" that had it all lit up in green, briefly? That was odd.
     
  13. Bing

    Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

    Go figure!!!!!:(
     
    lordmarcovan likes this.
  14. Bert Gedin

    Bert Gedin Well-Known Member

  15. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    Never mind. Something wonky was going there with my page view.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page