An extremely rare Vespasian as

Hi all!

It's not often I manage to acquire a coin that may be said to be "the only specimen in private hands." But this one, as far as I know, qualifies. It is an as struck under Vespasian; perhaps unremarkable at first glance, it is nevertheless an extremely rare type formerly known from a single specimen held by the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Both coins were struck from the same die pair.

VESPASIAN, AD 69-79
AE As (29.2mm, 11.78g, 6h)
Struck AD 71. Rome mint
Obverse: IMP CAES VESPASIAN AVG COS III, laureate head of Vespasian right
Reverse: P-AX AVGVSTI, Pax, draped, standing left, holding branch in right hand and cornucopia in left; S C in fields
References: RIC II.1 312 (R3, same dies); RCV – ; ERIC II – .
Green-brown patina with scattered encrustations. An extremely rare type, apparently the second known after the RIC plate coin (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford), and struck from the same dies. Incidentally, this coin confirms the reverse legend given in RIC, which, owing to the worn condition and off-center strike of the Ashmolean specimen, was initially only a supposition.​

It's a rather minor thing, but I find it satisfying that my coin can bring a little bit of added knowledge to RIC. No need for that question mark now!





Thanks for taking a look and feel free to comment/post your own rare Vespasian coins, or anything else!