My latest purchase gave me an odd sense of déjà vu - the reverse is identical to a denarius I purchased way back in 2004. Vespasian Æ As, 10.35g Rome mint, 71 AD Obv: IMP CAES VESPASIAN AVG COS III; Head of Vespasian, laureate, r. Rev: VICTORIA AVGVSTI; S C in exergue; Victory adv. r. to place wreath on standard and holding palm RIC 333 (R2). BMC -. BNC -. Acquired from eBay, August 2020. This rare As struck in 71 is the earliest Vespasianic appearance of Victory placing a wreath on a standard. The type would be more commonly struck for the denarius during Vespasian and Titus's joint consulship a year or so later. Often this Victory type is erroneously attributed as part of the 'Judaea Capta' series. I think it can be correctly viewed as simply a generic Victory with no specific war in mind. The type was unpublished until the its appearance in the new RIC II.1. A previous specimen in a 2007 CNG auction was mistakenly attributed a mule before the publication of the new RIC II.1. https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=109101# The piece sold for $1200(!) likely because it was unique at the time and the supposed 'Judaea Capta' connection. And here is the same type identically reproduced on a denarius struck in 72, sans S C. Vespasian AR Denarius, 3.42g Rome Mint, 72-73 AD Obv: IMP CAES VESP A-VG P M COS IIII; Head of Vespasian, laureate, r. Rev: VICTORIA AVGVSTI; Victory adv. r. to place wreath on standard and holding palm RIC 362 (C2). BMC 74. RSC 618. BNC 60. Acquired from Incitatus Coins, July 2004. Have you ever acquired a coin that gave you asimilar sense of déjà vu?
Well, as a matter of fact... For my collection of Sogdian coins I bought this some years ago. AE South-Sogd. King of Kesh, about 500-700. Kashka Darya area (now in Uzbekistan), Mint Nakhsheb. Obv. Head of king to left, long hairs at his back and long ribbons sprouting out. Inscription to the left: KWS MLK. Rev. Figure stabs mountain lion standing on its hind legs. 17 mm. And then I saw this type with a comparable reverse, about 1000 years earlier. I don't own it, this coin is from Coinarchives. Phoenicia, Sidon. Baalshallim II, circa 401-366 BC. 1/16 Shekel (Silver, 10 mm, 0.72 g). Phoenician galley left; ('b' in Phoenician) above, waves below. Rev. Persian king or hero, holding dagger in his right hand, standing right, fighting lion standing left on its hind legs; (' in Phoenician) between; all within incuse square.
No deja vu, just the common Vespasian Victory denarius. Vespasian Denarius (72-73 A.D.) Rome Mint IMP CAES VESP AVG P M COS IIII, laureate head right / VICTORIA AVGVSTI, Victory advancing right with palm, placing wreath on standard RIC 362; RSC 618, BMC 74. (2.85 grams / 17 mm)
One gets deja vu from these, but that was almost certainly purposeful on the part of the designers at the mint:
Didn't realize until I had the coin in hand but the obverse of both coins are from the same die. Quite a rare occurrance in the Kashmir series.. Jayasimha ( legend variant ) 1128-1154/5 Copper Kaserah or Punchshi 18mm (6.13gr) Obverse- Goddess Ardochsho/Lakshmi seated 'Sri Ja' (above) 'ya' (below) 'Sim' (ha) right Reverse- King facing
Whenever I see your cool sceatta's (I gotta get some!), I always see my Celtic Iceni... Celtic Britain Iceni Boudicca 61 CE 1.03g Celt Hd r Celtic horse galloping Seaby 434 Scarce
Large (28/29mm) folles of the Tetrachy certainly give you that sense of déjà vu ... but they are amazing in hand - a few of mine: Diocletian: Maximianus: Constantius I: Galerius: Severus II (needs an upgrade at some point..): Maximinus Daia: Constantine I (The Great).. as Caesar:
Hello Roman Collector, your last sestertius inspired me. It’s a very interesting coin linked to a DIVA AVG FAVSTINA ! Here’s a 14 coins die link table. Are included 2 RIC 1707 (first 2 coins on top distinguished by DIVA AVG FAVSTINA). ses RIC 1707 r1 29,73g regr = British Museum R.14722 ses RIC 1707 r3 30,88g = Elsen Auction 97 13.09.2008 Lot 404 ses RIC 1709 o1r1 29,03g = British Museum R.14723 ses RIC 1709 o1r2 27,25g = British Museum 1872,0709.705 ses RIC 1709 o1r3 27,34g = TimeLine Auctions 28.05.2019 Lot 3807 = Roman Collector ses RIC 1709 o1r4 26,34g = Inasta Spa Auction 85 09.12.2019 Lot 392 ses RIC 1709 o1r1 26,88g = CNGea 282 11.07.2012 Lot 301 ses RIC 1709 o1r2 20,53g = Monnaies d'Antan vso8-787 ses RIC 1709 o2r3 23,61g = Künker Auction 280 26.09.2016 Lot 652 ses RIC 1709 o2r5 26,45g = KHM RÖ 12753 ses RIC 1709 o3r5 21,65g 2012 regr = CNGea 282 11.07.2012 Lot 302 ses RIC 1709 o3r5 24,14g = Gitbud & Naumann Auction 21 642 - 7. septembre 2014 ses RIC 1709 o3r5 25,62g = CNGea 161 28.03.2007 Lot 246 ses RIC 1709 o3r6 29,09g regr = CNGea 425 25.07.2018 Lot 457 regr = regravé (in french) = tooled I excluded 2 other coins which, I personally think, are fakes. 4 coins share the same obverse and reverse. If I consider only RIC 1709, we have 12 coins, and 3 obverse dies. The ratio 12/3 = 4 is sufficiently representative (>3) to estimate the original number of dies. If you’re used to practice the Esty method, don’t hesitate …
We can see that the deterioration of the die close to the C (from SC) establishes the anterior strike of Elsen RIC 1707 compared to Roman Collector ex., and to Künker’s.
That's fascinating, @Aestimare , showing the link between those with the DIVA AVG FAVSTINA legend and the DIVAE FAVSTIN AVG MATR CASTROR. That's a lot of work. I think there is a fourth obverse die, shown here on the Wildwinds specimen submitted by Saul Roll of Romanorum. The obverse legend begins in a different location relative to the empress's drapery. The closest match is your o3, but I believe it to be a separate die. I can't tell which particular reverse die was used to strike this one, given the state of preservation of the specimen -- r3, maybe??
In my original response to the thread, I used the seller's (Timeline Auctions) photo. If it helps any, here's my own, less attractive, photo:
Sorry to keep piling on this thread, but this die-linkage establishes that the very first issues for Faustina II after her death bear the simple legend, DIVA AVG FAVSTINA, followed by the DIVAE FAVSTIN AVG MATR CASTROR legend, then DIVA FAVSTINA PIA. It looks like my thread from last October will need a little reworking.
I saw as you did, that the Wildwinds' ex. shows a new obverse die. The reverse ? Maybe r4, but I'm not sure. The fourth "step" (sorry for my language, imagine my words are wrongly chosen) on r3 is, I think, finer than on Saul Roll's ex. Thank you Roman Collector for the link to your previous thread, and your interpretations.
