A few of weeks ago I purchased a rare dupondius struck for Titus as Caesar with a left facing portrait. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/an-eastern-titus-caesar.363435/ Recently, I was able to acquired the slightly more common corresponding right facing portrait of the same type. Now I have a matching pair! Titus as Caesar [Vespasian] Æ Dupondius, 10.82g Rome mint, 74 AD Obv: T•CAESAR•IMP•PONT; Head of Titus, laureate, bearded, r. Rev: TR•POT•COS III•CENSOR•; Winged caduceus between crossed cornuacopiae RIC 761 (C). BMC 891. BNC 907. RPC 1991 (2 spec.). Ex LNE, eBay, 5 August 2020. Formerly in NGC holder 5769771-013, grade 'F'. A truly remarkable Titus Caesar dupondius struck in Rome under Vespasian, but lacking the traditional radiate portrait on the obverse and the de rigueur S C on the reverse. The reverse with crossed cornucopiae echoes similar types from the East. Traditionally, the issue this rather strange coin is from has been attributed to various different mints over the years. However, hoard and findspot data indicates these coins circulated in the Western empire and not in the East. Ted Buttrey in the RIC II.1 A&C wrote - 'RIC 756-767 are irregular Dupondii, which should be taken together with Asses, semisses and quadrantes (RIC 1564-1581), forming together a single extraordinary issue in four denominations, distinct in typology and metal, as well as overall character from the regular coinage of the year. Although Eastern in aspect and reverse type, the circulation area of the dupondii is almost exclusively Gaul, Germany, Italy – i.e. the West, with scarcely any penetration of the East. Finds of the smaller denominations are rarely attested anywhere, East or West. The Eastern finds appear to be simply the débris of Mediterranean circulation.' Why was an Eastern flavoured coinage struck for circulation in the West? Perhaps it may be nothing more than Vespasian paying homage to that part of the world that elevated him. This example is the slightly more common right facing portrait, although only 2 specimens are cited from the 'core collections' in RPC. This right facing example seems to be engraved in a more pleasing style than the left facing one I shared several weeks ago. Perhaps a more talented engraver produced the right facing dies for this issue? The coin came entombed. It is so no longer. The NGC label correctly assigns the coin to Rome but still notes the erroneous traditional 'for circulation in Syria' attribution. Feel free to post your matching pairs!
That is a very nice Vespasian. I had three of these types. The first was Domitian, which I removed from a slab, then the other two Titus and Vespasian. Here is a bust R/L pair for Gallienus, Hermes rev.
This is a slightly different interpretation of matching, but different denominations of the same type (I'm missing the sestertius)...
JOVIAN (Right and Left!): RI Jovian AE3 Sirmium mint VOT V RIC 118 RI Jovian 363-364 AE 20mm Folles LEFT Sinister VOT V
Congrats, @David Atherton ... great looking AE ... and it is really fun finding these matches! OCTAVIAN (Right and Left) RI Octavian as Augustus 25-23 BCE AR Quinarius RIGHT facing bust Emerita Augusta Sear 1642 Octavian as Augustus LEFT-Sinister 27 BCE –14 CE Quinarius Emerita 25-23 AR 13.5mm 1.79g - P CARISI LEG Victory trophy C 387. RIC 1b SCARCE
Roman Republic QUADRIGATUS REVERSE (Right and Left) LOL, I suppose the Janus is Right and Left, too... RR Anon AR Heavy Denarius -Quadrigatus - Didrachm 225-215 BCE Incuse Roma Janus Jupiter Cr 28-3 S 31 RR Anon AR Heavy Quinarius Half-Quadrigatus Drachm 216-214 BCE Janus ROMA Jupiter Victory Quadriga LEFT Cr 29-4 S 35
Hey! That's cheating! Oh. You meant the reverse. Here's a couple Constantine I matching pairs: London mint, A.D. 310-312 RIC 153 Obv: CONSTANTINVS P F AVG Rev: COMITI AVGG NN - Sol, with whip and globe PLN in exergue; star in right field 24 x 22 mm, 4.4 g. London mint, A.D. 310-312 RIC 177 Obv: CONSTANTINVS P A-VG Rev: COMITI AVGG NN - Sol, with whip and globe PLN in exergue; star in right field 24 mm, 4.1 g. (The obverse of this coin used to be my CT avatar.) Thessalonica mint, A.D. 319 RIC 59 Obv: CONSTAN-TINVS AVG Rev: VICTORIA AVGG NN - Victory advancing left with wreath and palm branch •TS•Γ• in exergue 19 mm, 2.5 g. Thessalonica mint, A.D. 319 RIC 60 Obv: CONSTAN-TINVS AVG Rev: VICTORI-A AVGG NN - Victory advancing left with wreath and palm branch TS•Γ• in exergue 18 mm, 3.0 g.
My left facing Septimius Severus ('Emesa') brought two of its right facing brothers. The first two coins have the broken obverse legend E-V which occurs in this period more frequently than other options to the point that it seems obvious that there was a reason for that split other than just where they ran out of room. The third coin is again a right facer and seems to have the smallest amount of E-V break unless you want to call it continuous. The lack of the normal sized break resulted in extra space at the end of the legend which was filled by spreading the letters COS II a bit more than usual. None of the FORTVNA REDVCI spelled out with Pietas sacrificing coins are common but the left facing one is very rare.
