Listed at a fairly cheap price, this is all I had to go by. A bad picture and a wrongly attributed slab. It's actually a dupondius struck for Titus as Augustus. I think it looks better outside of the plastic. Titus Æ Dupondius, 11.80g Rome mint, 80-81 AD Obv: IMP T CAES VESP AVG P M TR P COS VIII; Head of Titus, radiate, bearded, r. Rev: CERES AVGVST; S C in field; Ceres stg. l., with corn ears and torch RIC 189 (C). BMC 191A. BNC 191. Acquired from Excalibur Coins, eBay, October 2019. Formerly in ANACS holder 4892849, grade 'F 15', wrongly attributed to Vespasian. The standing Ceres type was a carry-over reverse from the reign of Vespasian. During Titus' reign it was sparingly struck in silver, but more commonly so in bronze. This dupondius is from Titus' great issue of bronze of 80-81. Because Titus did not take up the consulship in 81, the issue cannot be dated more precisely. Please share your 'chance' purchases or those that were wrongly attributed.
Very nice catch David. I love finding these misattributed gems. It is so much fun! Here is one I was able to grab when I noticed it was misattributed. The auction house attributed this coin as RIC 572 a common coin. It most certainly is not common. In fact it is the much rarer RIC 573. The difference is in the obverse legend. RIC 572 uses the common GERM in the legend while RIC 573 has the much rarer GERMAN. There are 4 types of denarii and one Aureus with this legend variation. The denarii are all R2 and the Aureus is R3. Domitian AR Denarius. Rome, AD 88. First Issue 3.25g, 19mm, 6h. Obv: IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERMAN PM TR P VII, laureate head right Rev: IMP XIIII COS XIIII CENS P P P, Minerva standing right with spear and shield. RIC 573 (R2) Ex: Roma Numismatics E-Sale 59 July 11, 2019 Lot 799
Somehow, when it comes to matters of authenticity and grade, we are expected to respect (and pay for) the opinion of a slabber who can't get the ruler ID ? Amazing. One letter matters. Here it was a T. Below it was an N: My only slabbed coin If you must have slabbed coins, at least pick a brand that offers more than mere encapsulation for your money. I have coins I would like to have expertised but not with the requirement of entombment.
Nice coin! I love it when that happens. This was attributed as a contemporary counterfeit based on erroneous XRF data. It turned out to be genuine with a 2000% increase in value.
Littleton Coins sometimes screws up. Here is a dupondius labeled as an as I got on eBay - I am not complaining! Vespasian Æ Dupondius (74 A.D.) Rome Mint IMP CAES VESP AVG P M T P COS V CENS, radiate head left / FELICITAS PVBLICA S-C, Felicitas standing facing, head left, holding caduceus and cornucopiae. RIC 716; Cohen 152. (10.30 grams / 26 mm)
The one thing about collecting is that you can't really be sure attributions are correct. I once received a Galerius coin that actually was Maximin Daia as it had the GAL VAL prenomen, confusing the seller into thinking it was Galerius.
