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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;David Atherton, post: 8137406, member: 82616&quot;]I got into Roman history as a kid by excitingly reading about the 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius. When I started collecting coins of the Roman Empire it was only natural for me to collect those of the ruling house at the time of that seminal event - the Flavians. </p><p><br /></p><p>Titus had been emperor for a few short months when the eruption occurred, so his coins struck in those first fledgling months hold a special place in my heart. My latest piece comes from that treasured time period, possibly struck within weeks of the disaster. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1418137[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Titus</b></p><p>Æ As, 10.89g</p><p>Rome mint, 79 AD</p><p>Obv: IMP T CAES VESP AVG P M TR P COS VII; Head of Titus, laureate, bearded, r.</p><p>Rev: S C in field; Spes stg. l., with flower</p><p>RIC 73 (R2). BMC p. 238 ‖. BNC -.</p><p>Acquired from CGB.fr, December 2021.</p><p><br /></p><p>Titus&#039; first issues of bronze as Augustus struck in 79, dated COS VII, are all very rare. They were produced sometime during the last six months of the year after his rise to the purple at the end of June, presumably in very modest numbers based on the meagre specimens that have survived antiquity. This As from that scanty issue features the familiar Spes reverse, likely based on a cult image. Spes was a common reverse type under Vespasian, connected to future dynastic hope and harmony. It continued to be struck by Titus and can be viewed as his hope for the future with his chosen heir Domitian. As Mattingly put it: &#039;...the recurring types of Spes suggests that Titus gave Domitian full due as heir to the throne.&#039; Suetonius would have us believe this public fraternal affection was a sham and Domitian did everything he could to plot against Titus. Dio goes so far as to say Domitian hastened Titus death by having him packed in ice! All of this can be dismissed as nothing more than post Domitianic gossip intended to blacken Domitian&#039;s name. The Flavian historian Brian Jones speculates the brother&#039;s relationship was one of &#039;mutual indifference and ignorance&#039; due to their age and personality differences. Regardless, as the numismatic evidence shows, Titus looked upon Domitian as his legitimate heir until his natural death in mid September 81.</p><p><br /></p><p>This particular variant is currently missing from both the Paris and BM collections. Curiously, Mattingly in BMCRE II references Cohen, who in turn cites a specimen in the Paris collection - apparently missing by the time the BNC II catalogue was published in 1998(?).</p><p><br /></p><p>Feel free to post any coins that are close to your heart.</p><p><br /></p><p>Thank you for looking![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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