I was attracted to this worn Titus Caesar As because of the affordable price ... and because it's fairly rare. It was overlooked by more discerning collectors. Titus as Caesar Æ As, 8.02g Rome mint, 74 AD (Vespasian) Obv: T CAESAR IMP COS III CENS; Head of Titus, laureate, bearded, r. Rev: VICTORIA AVGVST; S C in field; Victory stg. r. on prow, with wreath and palm RIC 753 (R). BMC p. 163 †. BNC 734. Acquired from London Ancient Coins, January 2020. A rare variant of the common Victory on prow struck in 74. Missing from the BM's collection. This Victory type was a popular generic design with the prow possibly lending a nautical theme, perhaps alluding to a successful ongoing Flavian naval policy. It was sparingly struck for this issue. Feel free to post your less than eye-catching rarities.
Not sure of the rarity of the piece, but its certainly not a looker... I was interested in it because it was from Alexandria...
Not a looker but one you don't see everyday IMP T CAES VESP AVG PM TR P COS VIII Laureate head left GENI P R; SC IN FIELD Genius standing left with patera over altar and cornucopiae Rome, 80-81 AD 11.45g RIC 226 (R)
What a lucky opportunity, @David Atherton ! When dealing with rarities for a specialty collection, you can't be a condition crank -- the opportunity to acquire another example may never come in one's lifetime. I have a rare but not pretty dupondius of Faustina I: Faustina I, AD 138-141. Roman orichalcum dupondius, 10.62 g, 28.1 mm, 7 h. Rome, AD 147-161 (probably AD 150/51). Obv: DIVA FAV-STINA, diademed, veiled and draped bust, right. Rev: AETER-NITAS S C, Fortuna standing left, holding globe and rudder. Refs: RIC 1160b; BMCRE4 1557 var. (bust); Cohen 9; RCV 4640 var. (bust); Strack 1267; ERIC II 356. Strack catalogs the coin as number 1267 and cites examples in the Staatliches Münzkabinett in Berlin, the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, and the Nationalmuseum in Rome. The Paris specimen is, of course, the one cited by Cohen, which is in turn cited by RIC. Strack, Cohen and RIC (which cites Cohen without confirmation) fail to mention a stephane on the bust, but only note the presence of a veil. It's unclear if my example -- with a bust of Faustina wearing a stephane and veil -- is unique or whether Cohen and Strack are simply incomplete in their description. None of the specimens cited by Strack are photographed for online viewing and I am unable to confirm their existence or examine their bust types. No examples of the coin are to be found at Wildwinds, CoinArchives, acsearchinfo, OCRE, Coryssa, The Coin Project, CoinsCatalog, or at V-Coins. This brings the census of known specimens to four: Veiled bust, unclear if stephane is present Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris (Cited by Cohen/RIC and Strack) Staatliches Münzkabinett in Berlin (Cited by Strack) Nationalmuseum in Rome (Cited by Strack) Veiled and stephaned bust My coin.
Another great pick up David, Vespasian must of pinched this design from his Caesar a couple of years later. Vespasian AE As Rome 76 AD, Victory RIC 897, 11.25gm, 27mm.
Here's one I got in a group of 4 Asses of Hadrian from an eBay dealer. I believe it is somewhat scarce. Hadrian (Augustus) Coin: Bronze As HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS - Laureate and draped bust of Hadrian right. COS III around, S-C across fields, - Tyche of Antioch seated left on rock, holding grain ears, river-god Orontes swimming left below. Exergue: Mint: Rome/Antioch (125-128 AD) Wt./Size/Axis: 8.91g / 23mm / 6h References: RIC II 680 BMCRE 1350 McAlee 544 Sear 3696 Acquisition/Sale: fvrivs.rvfvs eBay $0.00 03/19 Notes: Apr 29, 19 - The Gary R. Wilson Collection
