I purchased this As struck for Titus Caesar primarily because it's rare and I was missing it from my collection. But once the piece arrived I noticed it had an interesting little quirk - a flan flaw on the rim. Anyway, here is the coin. The flan flaw is visible on the reverse at 2 o'clock. Titus as Caesar RIC 448 [Vespasian] Æ As, 9.94g Rome mint, 72 AD Obv: T CAES VESPASIAN IMP P TR P COS II; Head of Titus, laureate, bearded, r. Rev: PROVIDENT in exergue; S C in field; Altar RIC 448 (R). BMC 692A. BNC 634. Acquired from Incitatus Coins, November 2020. Originally, Tiberius struck the Provident altar type for Divus Augustus. The altar depicted is dedicated to Providentia, the personification of the emperor's divine providence. Although the type is commonly described as an altar, Marvin Tameanko has convincingly argued it is actually a sacellum, or small shrine. Vespasian began striking it early in his reign both at Rome and Lyon, confining the type to the as issues. Nathan T. Elkins in his Monuments in Miniature wrote the following concerning the type - 'Asses with an altar enclosure labeled PROVIDENT, combine with obverses of Vespasian or his sons, are the emperor's most common architectural type and were produced from c. 71 to 78. The Ara Providentiae, which had appeared before on coins of Tiberius, Galba, and Vitellius, celebrated the emperor's foresight in the designation of his successors. The combination of the reverse type with obverses of one of the two Caesars further underscored the dynastic message.' This rare PROVIDENT from 72 is the first instance of the type struck for Titus Caesar. Oddly, the coin has a 12 o'clock die axis, unusual for Rome at this time. Feel free to post your Altars ... or flan flaws!
...Flan flaws? Shoot. I mostly collect medieval; there are too many. ...Wait, let me find one. France, Bishopric of Meaux, Etienne, 1161-71. Billon denier. Trouble with these is that, like some of the antoniniani of Gallienus and Claudius, the billon in question ran more to tin than anything even recognizably AE. Combine that with the notoriously thin flans of the period, and you get flan splitting as an inherent, endemic part of the striking process.
Nice Titus Provident Altar coin and write up, David. I like your DIVVS Augustus, Provident Altar coin, Bing. Here is a restoration issue by Titus: AUGUSTUS AS, TITUS RESTORATION ISSUE, 80-81 AD (27mm, 10.03 gm) BMCRE Volume II, Rome, Titus No. 271 (variant) RIC Volume II, Part 1 (second edition), Titus, No. 454 Obverse depiction: Augustus, radiate head facing left Inscription: DIVVS AVGVSTVS PATER Reverse depiction: Altar enclosure with double doors Inscription: IMP T VESP AVG REST - S C (left and right) - PROVIDENT (in exergue) Added: I miss-typed the weight of the Augustus aureus I posted a short time ago (link to the post) as 3.6 gm. - it should be 7.6 gm. That is one of the reasons I do not post much here these days - I make too many mistakes. (I just noticed the error - too late to edit the original post, sorry).
Titus' restitution of this reverse type is certainly less commonly encountered than the original, which is among the most common coins found from the age of Tiberius. Divus Augustus, 27 BC - 14 AD. Roman Æ as, 9.30 g, 28.4 mm, 7 h. Rome, issued under Tiberius, AD 22-30. Obv: DIVVS·AVGVSTVS·PATER, head of Augustus, radiate, left. Rev: PROVIDENT S C, Altar-enclosure with double paneled door; surmounted by uncertain ornaments. Refs: RIC 81; BMCRE 146; Cohen (Augustus) 228; RCV 1789.
That is a nice coin @Roman Collector. I wrote and posted the following a while ago as an introductory reference: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-restoration-restitution-coinage-of-titus.346823
