Titus with a neck beard!

Hi all,
Several months ago I bought this extremely rare (1 of 2 total known) Titus denarius from Forum. After paying off the layaway and an extended shipping time because of the postal slowdown, I just received the coin today. I am very pleased with it.

This also happens to be the RIC plate coin for this issue. Having the coin in hand I observed that the neck Beard of Titus is quite prominent. I did not notice this on the Forum photo or the RIC plate.

As Curtis Clay commented on Forum, what makes this coin rare is the reverse legend. This legend only occurs on 2 denarius types for Titus RIC 694 and RIC 695.

I am extremely happy to have this one in my collection.


Feel free to post your coins of Titus or portraits with a neck beard.

Titus Silver denarius, 74 CE Rome
(3.160g, maximum diameter 19.3mm, die axis 180o )
Obv: T CAESAR IMP VESP counter-clockwise from lower right, laureate head right;
Rev: PONTIF TR POT (priest, holder of Tribunitian power) counter-clockwise from lower right, Titus seated right on curule chair, long scepter vertical in right hand, palm branch in extended left hand;
RIC II-2 695 [VESP] (R3, this coin and this coin illustrated in the plates),
RSC II- BMCRE II -, SRCV I -, Cohen I -, Hunter I -,
This is the RIC plate coin! no recorded sales of the type on Coin Archives for the last two decades; extremely rare
Ex Stack’s Bowers Galleries January 2019 NYINC Auction 11-12 January 2019 Lot 41006 (part of a large lot)
Purchased from Forvm Ancient Coins on Jan 12, 2020
Coin depicted in the Wildwinds.com database.

 

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Wow, Orfew- one of only two known! Great to have the RIC plate coin also!

Here's my clean-shaven Titus:

Titus as Caesar (79-81 AD). Denarius. Rome mint, 80 AD. Rarer type with reverse showing tripod with fillets, upon which sit two ravens and a wreath surmounted by dolphin. RIC 128. C. 321.

 

A very nice coin Andrew! I understand that you are very happy with it, a ric plate coin is not one everyone has.

My only Titus:


T CAESAR IMP VESPASIAN
laureate head right
COS V
bull standing right

Titus Caesar 69-79
AR Denarius
Struck 76
2,77g/18mm
Ric 858 (Vespasian) (R)

As for the neck beards, I think this should count. You don't see it very well on the picture but better in hand.



CAESAR DIVI F DOMITIANVS COS VII
laureate head right.
PRINCEPS IVVENTVTIS
lighted & garlanded altar.

Domitian Caesar 69-81
AR Denarius
Struck 80-81
3,08g/19mm
Ric 266 (Titus)
Ex Künker

 

Congratulations @Orfew, and a decent coin to boot.

 

Congrats, Andrew! COOL find. Not sure that I have any neck beards... but Fred Sanford would approve!




Here is his daughter...


RI Julia Flavia Titi Diva 90-91 CE d-Titus AE Sestert 33mm 20.4g - Carpentum mules SPQR - SC R

 

Emperors with obvious neckbeards (TIF's favorite)

 

I never looked closely before, but this Titus has a neck beard!

 

Titus. 79-81 AD. AR denarius (19mm; 3.52 gm; 6h); Obv: His laureate head, r. Rev: Venus standing right, seen from behind, leaning on a column, holding helmet in right hand and transverse spear in left hand. SM 2507; RIC II 9; RSC 268.

 

Titus. 79-81 AD. AR Denarius (18mm; 3.51 gm; 7h). Struck July-December 80 AD. Rome mint. Obv: IMP TITVS CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M, laureate head right. Rev: TR P IX IMP XV COS VIII P P, dolphin entwined around anchor. RIC II 112; BMCRE 72; RSC 309.

 

The Atonement after Vesuvius Erupts. Titus. 79-81 AD. AR Denarius (18mm; 3.58 gm; 6h). Rome mint. Struck January-June 80 AD. Obv: IMP TITVS CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M, laureate head right / TR P IX IMP XV COS VIII P P, pulvinar (throne) of Mars and Venus: curule chair, above which is a wreath. RIC II 108; RSC 318; BMCRE 66-9; BN 53.

 

Gallienus has something of a neckbeard in this tigress coin as well:



So if Titus really has a neckbeard in that coin, does that mean that one can no longer state with certainty that the first Roman Emperor with a beard was Hadrian? Or does a neckbeard, by itself, not count?

 

Titus, Caesar, 69-79 AD. Denarius. (18mm; 3.48 gm; 7h). Rome. Obv: T CAESAR IMP VESP. Laureate head right. Rev: PONTIF TR P.COS III, Winged caduceus. RIC 693 (Vesp); RSC 159

 

Titus. 79-81 AD. AR Denarius (17mm; 3.51 gm; 6h). Rome mint. Struck 80 AD. Obv: Laureate head right. Rev: Ornamented throne with triangular back with 9 palmettes and with lituus within the triangle. RIC II 124a; BMCRE 58; RSC 313a.

 

Titus. 79-81 AD. AR Denarius (18mm; 3.54 gm; 6h). Rome mint. Struck mid-late 79 AD. Obv: Laureate head r. Rev: Statue of radiate male figure facing on rostral column, holding spear and parazonium. RIC II 46; RSC 289

 

That is a very nice catch @Orfew, congratulations!

I had to google neck beard, and found some interesting pictures I will not post here. I do wonder however how the ancients would reflect on the following quote.

"Growing a beard isn't easy for everyone. Patchy spots and stubborn growth can thwart even the most stalwart of beard-growers. But some men have the opposite problem: too much growth in the wrong places — also known as the "neck beard." It's gross."

In any case, when invited to post coins of Titus, I am more than happy to pull the elephant out of the cabinet.

 

I seem to recall reading somewhere that pre-Hadrian coins with the emperor unshaven was a sign of mourning. For Titus, this would be the death of his father Vespasian, maybe? This fits with the dates of some of the coins posted above, but not the OP.

Here is Octavian - not quite a neckbeard, but working on some un-Augustan sideburns. From what I dimly recall researching this coin (which I got in 1994, so this was a while back) was that here Octavian is shown in mourning for Julius Caesar (although he'd been assassinated a couple years before). Maybe he was just doing some adolescent rock n' roll experimentation?


Roman Imperatorial Denarius
Octavian / Q Salvius, moneyer
(40 B.C.)
Military Mint in Italy
C CAESA[R III] VR R P C, bare head of Octavian right, / Q SALVVS IMP COS
D[ESIG], around thunderbolt.
Crawford 523/1a;
Sydenham 1326b.
(3.58 grams / 18 mm)

 

Tacitus and Gallienus had some spectacular neck beards. But let's not discount Carus, who wore it and the receding hairline with style!


Carus, AD 282-283.
Roman billon Antoninianus, 3.57 g, 21 mm, 6 h.
Antioch, AD 282.
Obv: IMP C M AVR CARVS P F AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust, right.
Rev: VIRTVS AVGG, emperor standing right, holding parazonium and receiving Victory on globe from Carinus (or Jupiter) standing left, holding scepter; A//XXI .
Refs: RIC 124C; Cohen 116; RCV 12188.

 

Great pick up Orfew, I think it looks like an under chin beard rather than neck.
Titus, 79 AD, denarius Rome 3.41gm, radiate figure on rostral column, S2509, RIC 10, RSC 272,

 

BB #230. Wayne Philips 4-26-96 $65.00 - Silver coin (AR Denarius) minted at Rome during the reign of TITUS in 79 A.D. Obv. IMP.TITVS.CAES.VESPASIAN.AVG.P.M.: laur. hd. r. Rev. BONVS.EVENTVS.AVGVSTI.: Bonus Eventus stg. l., holding patera and grain stalks. RSCII #25 pg.54. RICII #31 pg.120. BMC #106. DVM #8. Pleasing F, nice smooth medium gray. Mail Bid Sale no. 29.



Is that a little gruff under his chin?

 

Ahem,