The bronze As was undoubtedly the commonest bronze coin struck at Rome under Vespasian (and the First Century for that matter!). Hoard evidence from a Pompeiian bar bares this out. My latest coin is one of the most common Asses struck under Vespasian. Vespasian Æ As, 9.63g Rome mint, 76 AD Obv: IMP CAESAR VESP AVG COS VII; Head of Vespasian, laureate, r. Rev: AEQVITAS AVGVST; S C in field; Aequitas stg. l., with scales and rod RIC 890 (C). BMC -. BNC 755. Acquired from CGB.fr, August 2020. Vespasian inherited a financial mess upon his accession in 69. His top priority was putting the state on a sound financial footing. Symbolic of that righting of the empire was the common reverse type of Aequitas. Aequitas holding her scales and measuring rod was probably based on a cult image of the deity. She first shows up as an imperial virtue on the coinage under Galba - a virtue that Vespasian was eager to emulate. This particular COS VII example struck in 76 at Rome is considered by RIC (p. 51) to be one of the most common bronze coins struck for Vespasian. Oddly enough, no examples are in the BM's extensive collection. A common coin such as this As saw heavy urban plebeian circulation, not just in Rome but all over the Western empire. Just think of how many cups of wine or loaves of bread it paid for! Show off the commonest of your common coins!
Very nice capture David. Here is a coin that is both common and uncommon. As a type this coin is common. However, that fact that it is a hoard coin with a known finder, recorded archeological dig, and recorded find spot makes it quite uncommon.
I saw your title and immediately thought of the term "denarius communis," which seems to be the basis of many of the European currencies today (denar, dinar, dinero, penny, etc)
Common coins are important, because those are the ones issued to pay the troops and used by the common people and not just special issues given out to dignitaries on special occasions. As such, they inform us what message the issuer wanted the soldiers and common people to hear. These coins reflect the Zeitgeist during which they were issued. Trebonianus Gallus ranks 55th on the ERIC II Roman rarity scale, but that doesn't mean his coins are rare. He's still in the top third most common coins and there are about 350 coins of T-Bone for sale at V Coins at any given time and few will cost you three figures. I consider them common. Trebonianus coins from Antioch are very plentiful. For example, the third issue for Trebonianus Gallus at Antioch produced about 7 million coins (Metcalf, p. 94). Metcalf also found that the Antioch mint had produced nearly ten times as many coins during the second half of Gallus' reign as it had during the earlier years and these were of a crude style, often with spelling and mint mark errors (pp. 83-85). Moreover, Gallus's coins of the Antioch mint average only 18.9% silver, whereas those issued in Rome were less debased (30.9%), with the least debased being the unknown branch mint previously believed to have been Mediolanum (37.9% silver) (Pannekeet, Table 3). The hasty ramping up of coin production and severe debasement indicate a pressing military need in the eastern provinces (Metcalf, p. 71), as does the single most common coin type of Antioch: MARTEM PROPVGNATOREM, "Mars the Defender." Here's Metcalf's summary of hoards of Trebonianus coins minted in Antioch (p. 87): So here's the most common of the common: Trebonianus Gallus, AD 251-253. Roman AR antoninianus, 3.58 g, 20.7 mm, 5 h. Antioch, 3rd issue, AD 253-253. Obv: IMP C C VIB TREB GALLVS P F AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust, right. Rev: MARTEM PROPVGNATOREM, Mars advancing right, carrying transverse spear and shield. Refs: RIC 84; RSC 70; RCV 9637; Hunter 59. Notes: Virtually all coins of this reverse have no officina marks but there are a few rare coins with officina ../.. (second officina). ~~~ Metcalf, William E. "The Antioch Hoard of Antoniniani and the Eastern Coinage of Trebonianus Gallus and Volusian." The American Numismatic Society Museum Notes 22. New York: American Numismatic Society, 1977. Available HERE. Pannekeet, Cornelis GJ. "A Theory on How the Denarius Disappeared and the Debasement of the Antoninianus." Academia.edu, www.academia.edu/3784962/A_theory_on_how_the_denarius_disappeared_and_the_debasement_of_the_antoninianus?auto=download.
It was from the Roman equivalent of a "cash register" at a bar abandoned during the evacuation of Pompei. The barkeep likely grabbed all the small silver coins (portable and valuable) when fleeing the city and left all the heavy, lower-value bronze coins behind as not being worth the trouble to carry.
This doesn't quite fit the bill, but RIC does list this coin as common. If it's not the first coin of Aurelian I've found in hundreds of uncleaneds, it's only the second. There's 4 available on vcoins, one seller lists as scarce, another very rare. OCRE has two examples and there's 3 auction records at acsearch. Coincidentally, none of those 9 examples feature the apparrently unlucky Q mark of the 9th workshop that produced mine. Throw in some splatters of red, blue and green that happened to form away from the good emperor's face, and I doubt I'll ever find a such a common coin again. Aurelian, Billon Antoninianus, Siscia Mint, 270-275 CE Obv: IMP C AVRELIANVS AVG; Bust of Aurelian, radiate, draped, right Rev: CONCORDIA MILI; Two Concordiae, draped, standing, each holding ensign; between them, third ensign; Q in ex. Reference: RIC V Aurelian 199 PS Thanks to @Orange Julius for making me finally learn to sew pictures together and @dougsmit via @zumbly for the trivia re: the Q officina
Thanks for the info, @David Atherton ... that is a fun read. Nice AE As of Vespasian! Great supplement by the @Roman Collector guy! Hmmm... here are a couple "common" Asses: EMPIRE AS: (I wish I could say it is from the 219! ) RI Claudius 41-54 Ae As 28mm LIBERTAS AVGVSTA holding pileus S-C RIC 113 REPUBLIC AS RR Anon AE As ~39g after 211 BC Janus I Prow Cr 56-2 Sear 627
Very interesting distribution of the bronze/copper coins. As you suggest, this sample could provide evidence as to which coin types were the most common in general circulation. Also, TG struck a vast quantity of coins apparently. This is probably true of Gordian III as well. Here's a MARTEM PROPVGNATOREM type of Rome:
Gordian III is Number 3 on the ERIC II Roman Rarity Scale. This example stands out for only one reason, an above average weight. One of my sub-sub-collecting interest is common coins of unusual high weight. Gordian III, AD 239-240. AR Antoninianus (20mm, 6.01g). Rome mint. Obv: IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG; Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right. Rev: AEQVITAS AVG; Aequitas standing left, holding scales and cornucopia. Ref: RIC 63; RSC 25.
