Actually, my 2nd.....I picked up a widow's mite a while back. This was for sale at my coin club auction for $12 bucks and I liked it so I bought it. I'm not an ancient collector, but I thought this was cool. Was $12 a decent price? What do you know about this coin? It said it was Roman from about 300 AD. It is about the size of a US Presidential Dollar. What is on the reverse? Thanks for your comments!
Yes, it is a Roman coin. The emperor is Vespasian. (Note "VESP' in the legend on the obverse.) I don't know who the figure is on the reverse but the "SC" stands for "Senatus Consulto" which translates to "by permission of the Senate". This meant that the Roman Senate established the value of the coin (which often was greater than the intrinsic value of the bronze coins). I would say you did OK buying that coin for $12.
The bust resembles more that of Domitian, Vespasian's son. Depending on its weight it could be a sestertius, or an as of Domitian. The Figure on the reverse appear to be the goddess Minerva but not sure.
While "Vesp" does stand for Vespasian, and it's usually a sign that a coin is of Vespasian or his son Titus (who also had "Vespasian" as part of his name), the way it's used here is one you don't see that often. The coin says "Divi Vesp F." The "F" stands for "Filius," which means "son of," so it's "Son of the Divine Vespasian."
Don't worry Hobo, I was not aware of these Divi issues either, and was confused by the OP coin. We all learn new things here, that is why we are here, right? If you never learn anything, you are just listening to yourself talk, right? I sincerely hope I never get to the point in life where I stop learning new things. Chris
Chris, I know enough about ancient coins to be dangerous. I am always eager to learn more about ancient coins or any coins.
The legends are weak but clear. On the reverse it says TRP COS VII DES VIII PP. The significant part is The DES VIII which means that the coin was issued late in the year 81 AD after the death of his brother Titus. The Romans assumed the consulship on January 1 so Domitian, now the new emperor, had announced the intention of assuming the eighth consulship on New Year's day even though this coin was made before that date arrived. The inclusion of DIVI VESP F points out that Domitian was just as much a son of the divine Vespasian as had been Titus. It is not uncommon for emperors to include honorifics to their predecessor but in this case Domitian was not becoming emperor because he was brother of Titus but because he was son of Vespasian. Certainly it would be nice if the coin were a bit less rough but it certainly is worth $12. Fans of big coins will be glad to know that Domitian also issued sestertii worth four of these asses which are almost US silver dollar size but you'll have more trouble finding one for $12... a lot more trouble. Anyone interested in a bit more on abbreviations of this sort might like my page: http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/abb.html
Thank you for posting the coin. It was nice to learn about your new coin. Now you may want to write-down all this good information and keep it with the coin.
