Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Sulla80, post: 4537801, member: 99456&quot;][ATTACH=full]1123484[/ATTACH] </p><p><a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/377679" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/377679" rel="nofollow"><font size="2">Temple of Vespasian, Stefano della Bella 1656 (public domain)</font></a></p><p>Although I only have a few coins of Vespasian, I find transitional&nbsp; portraits interesting and was pleased to see this one show up in the mail yesterday: an AR Vespasian denarius.&nbsp; RIC II lists the date as January to June (and later?) of AD 70.&nbsp; From the portrait it is no surprise that this is an early issue, it looks a lot like Vitellius to me.&nbsp; I imagine that the die maker was still mastering Vitellius when Vespasian had Vitellius executed on 22-Dec-69, and thought to himself, &quot;Emperors change too often around here, I was just getting good at the last guy&quot;.&nbsp; AD 69 was the Year of the Four Emperors - here&#039;s a simple timeline:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1123502[/ATTACH]</p><p>COS ITER FORT RED roughly translates to &quot;Consul, Again, Safe Return&quot; - which in light of the chart above, only reflects making it over the 69-70 year boundary, and a second calendar year as emperor.&nbsp; Having quelled the uprising in Judaea that he would tout for many years, Vespasian made it back to Rome by July so these coins, if they did continue&nbsp; to mint after Jun 70, would have been anachronistic.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1123469[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Vespasian,</b> AD 69-79, AR Denarius, Rome mint, AD 70</p><p><b>Obv: </b>IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG, laureate head right</p><p><b>Rev:</b> COS ITER FORT RED, Fortuna standing left, hand on prow of galley and holding cornucopia</p><p><b>Size:</b> 3.13g, 19mm</p><p><b>Ref:</b> <a href="http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.2_1(2).ves.19" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.2_1(2).ves.19" rel="nofollow">RIC II 19</a></p><p><b>Note:</b> these first portraits of Vespasian are still often not recognizably Vespasian, although characteristic features begin to appear</p><p><br /></p><p>Corrections, comments, and additional information are always appreciated.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Post your transitional portraits, favorite Vespasians, or anything else you find interesting or entertaining.</b>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in