Log in or Sign up
Coin Talk
Home
Forums
>
Coin Forums
>
Ancient Coins
>
A very rare denarius of Vespasian
>
Reply to Thread
Message:
<p>[QUOTE="Orfew, post: 4872611, member: 74968"]While my last thread featured a coin that could reasonably called relatively common, this one is an entirely different case. Yes, this coin was misattributed as well.</p><p><br /></p><p>While there are some common coins for Ephesus, there are a great number more rarities in that series. I guess one could claim that common coins are rare for Ephesus LOL. This coin is one of the rarities. When I saw this coin pop up on Vcoins I had to do a double take. When I read the obverse legend I could not believe my eyes. The seller had attributed this coin as RIC 1428. Now, 1428 (of which I already had an example) has COS III in the obverse legend. This one has COS IIII. The fourth 'I' is hard to see but it is there. This is a very easy mistake to make. In fact I have made a very similar mistake with an Ephesian denarius in the last week or 2. To be fair there is another identifying mark on this coin which has been worn off-a star. Which means this is a very rare Group 7 Ephesian denarius. There are only 3 groups of these denarii that feature a Star. Group 7 features a star and has COS IIII, Group 8 has a start is COS V and therefore could not be my coin, and Group 9 that features a Star and an Annulet or ring and is also COS V for Vespasian. So if it has COS IIII and a Star the only choice among the existent groups is Group 7. If this sounds like an easy process it wasn't. My copy of RIC told me that the COS III reading only existed for coins 1423-1434.</p><p>it could not be 1423-1426 because there is no CONCORDIA type among those. ( of course it is possible that a CONCORDIA type was previously unrecorded. Unlikely, but stranger things have happened with these Ephesian denarii). So that left 1427-1434.There is a CONCORDIA type here and it is ...you guessed it 1428 (the attribution given by the seller). I did not see the ligate EPHE in the exergue on the reverse. I thought that perhaps it had been worn off. I put it in my cart. Not long after I got a message from [USER=82616]@David Atherton[/USER] that a very rare V1453 had shown up on Vcoins. Well, that was the confirmation I needed. I immediately bought the coin.</p><p>Thank to David for contacting me about this coin.</p><p><br /></p><p>A last word about the rarity of Group 7 denarii. This one is actually more common than the other 2 in the group. Those 2 are both R3 (one example known).</p><p><br /></p><p>Please post your rarities or your coins of Vespasian.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1176838[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Vespasian AR Denarius Late 73 CE Ephesus (Group 7)</p><p>(18mm 3.3g)</p><p>Obv: Laureate head right; IMP CAESAR VESPAS AVG COS IIII TR P P P</p><p>Rev: Ceres seated left, on ornate backed chair, with corn-ears and poppy in left hand, cornucopiae in right; Star in exergue (worn off on this example) CONCORDIA AVG</p><p>RIC 1453 (R2) BMC--, RSC—[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Orfew, post: 4872611, member: 74968"]While my last thread featured a coin that could reasonably called relatively common, this one is an entirely different case. Yes, this coin was misattributed as well. While there are some common coins for Ephesus, there are a great number more rarities in that series. I guess one could claim that common coins are rare for Ephesus LOL. This coin is one of the rarities. When I saw this coin pop up on Vcoins I had to do a double take. When I read the obverse legend I could not believe my eyes. The seller had attributed this coin as RIC 1428. Now, 1428 (of which I already had an example) has COS III in the obverse legend. This one has COS IIII. The fourth 'I' is hard to see but it is there. This is a very easy mistake to make. In fact I have made a very similar mistake with an Ephesian denarius in the last week or 2. To be fair there is another identifying mark on this coin which has been worn off-a star. Which means this is a very rare Group 7 Ephesian denarius. There are only 3 groups of these denarii that feature a Star. Group 7 features a star and has COS IIII, Group 8 has a start is COS V and therefore could not be my coin, and Group 9 that features a Star and an Annulet or ring and is also COS V for Vespasian. So if it has COS IIII and a Star the only choice among the existent groups is Group 7. If this sounds like an easy process it wasn't. My copy of RIC told me that the COS III reading only existed for coins 1423-1434. it could not be 1423-1426 because there is no CONCORDIA type among those. ( of course it is possible that a CONCORDIA type was previously unrecorded. Unlikely, but stranger things have happened with these Ephesian denarii). So that left 1427-1434.There is a CONCORDIA type here and it is ...you guessed it 1428 (the attribution given by the seller). I did not see the ligate EPHE in the exergue on the reverse. I thought that perhaps it had been worn off. I put it in my cart. Not long after I got a message from [USER=82616]@David Atherton[/USER] that a very rare V1453 had shown up on Vcoins. Well, that was the confirmation I needed. I immediately bought the coin. Thank to David for contacting me about this coin. A last word about the rarity of Group 7 denarii. This one is actually more common than the other 2 in the group. Those 2 are both R3 (one example known). Please post your rarities or your coins of Vespasian. [ATTACH=full]1176838[/ATTACH] Vespasian AR Denarius Late 73 CE Ephesus (Group 7) (18mm 3.3g) Obv: Laureate head right; IMP CAESAR VESPAS AVG COS IIII TR P P P Rev: Ceres seated left, on ornate backed chair, with corn-ears and poppy in left hand, cornucopiae in right; Star in exergue (worn off on this example) CONCORDIA AVG RIC 1453 (R2) BMC--, RSC—[/QUOTE]
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
Coin Talk
Home
Forums
>
Coin Forums
>
Ancient Coins
>
A very rare denarius of Vespasian
>
Home
Home
Quick Links
Search Forums
Recent Activity
Recent Posts
Forums
Forums
Quick Links
Search Forums
Recent Posts
Competitions
Competitions
Quick Links
Competition Index
Rules, Terms & Conditions
Gallery
Gallery
Quick Links
Search Media
New Media
Showcase
Showcase
Quick Links
Search Items
Most Active Members
New Items
Directory
Directory
Quick Links
Directory Home
New Listings
Members
Members
Quick Links
Notable Members
Current Visitors
Recent Activity
New Profile Posts
Sponsors
Menu
Search
Search titles only
Posted by Member:
Separate names with a comma.
Newer Than:
Search this thread only
Search this forum only
Display results as threads
Useful Searches
Recent Posts
More...