Here's a Mighty Dupondius of Vespasian

Looks like the old boy could smile after all, or is that a sneer?

 

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That's a good lookin' coin Big John.. i think he's pretty happy with himself.

 

Fantastic! The large bronze pieces often gave the engravers some added scope in imagining the princeps as an overweight, genial ex-soldier.

 

I like your new coin, but, hmmm, I think I've seen one like it somewhere.


VESPASIAN
Æ Dupondius
OBVERSE: IMP CAES VESP AVG P M T P COS V CENS, radiate head left
REVERSE: FELICITAS PVBLICA S-C, Felicitas standing facing, head left, holding caduceus & cornucopiae
Struck at Rome, 74AD
10.2g, 28mm
RIC 716, (RIC [1962] 555), Cohen 152, BMC 698
Ex: J.Q. Adams

 

Probly chucklin about Eeyore...

 

Yeah well, mine is ex-Joe Schmoe, so take that!

 

LOL, JQAdams was so righteous, he squeeked...he probably did not know how to smile. Your Vespasian did!

Um, NO disrespect to @Bing 's dupondius... I REALLY like it!

 

I think it's a smirk

 

I believe I read somewhere that Vespasian had quite a sense of humor. Wasn't he the one that died while going to the bathroom...like Elvis.

I could be making this up...

 

Very sweet coin!

 

I don't know, but with the band of the crown worn off like it is, it looks like his hair is all spiked up.

Great coin.

 

Nice!!

Wow, JA => that's an awesome OP-coin (congrats) ...

Yup, that coin (and Bing's) both have fantastic eye-appeal (very rugged looking examples)

 

Denarius not dupondius but clearly he is a stoic dude.

 

Vespasian really has one of my favorite portrait faces; the one on that dupondius is great.

I've shown my weathered old dupondius probably too often.


Here's a portrait that I really like on a denarius that I've not shown before.

 

My one and only Vespasian is a denarius:


Vespasian, AD 1 Jul 69-24 Jun 79
AR, Denarius, 3.09g, 18mm; 6h; Rome, Jan-Jun AD 70
Obv.: IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG; laureate head right
Rev.: COS ITER TR POT; Pax seated left on chair without back, branch in right hand, caduceus in left
Ref.: RIC II, part 1, 29

 

It's a smile.

My Vespasian coin has the smile on the reverse:

 

That second image really does accentuate the detail.

 

http://www.italiannotebook.com/art-archaeology/vespasian-urinals/
I fear there may be some among us not aware that the smirk on Vespasian's face on coins around 74 AD most certainly came from his pleasure with the revenues from his Urine Tax. The story is the most often told about Vespasian but in case anyone needs a refresher, the link is above.


I selected my dupondius of Vespasian not for what it has but for the two things it lacks (three, if you count condition which you know I don't to any degree). This dupondius does not have the radiate crown so some might think it an as but it also lacks the patina we so cherish on our bronzes so you can see it was made from yellow brass or orichalcum. When new this coin would have shone like a yellow sun as opposed to the red copper asses so the radiate crown was not as necessary. Some of us might even think it was a sestertius since it is as big as some later sestertii but Vespasian's real sestertii were really big rather like those of Galba and Vitellius before him. That is a problem with talking coins online using photos. It is hard to visualize the size of the coins. We can give measurements but there is no set diameter for coins struck without collars and few of us have a good grasp on just how big 27mm or 32mm really is 'in hand'. I do not know why Vespasian issued some dupondii with laureate portraits and some with the radiate crowns but would love to hear your opinions on that one. Why is a hard question to answer (ask any parent of small children) even without a 2000 year gap in time. Titus was a bit embarassed to be profiting from the urine of the populace but his father was probably the most practical man ever to be emperor and he knew (did you read the link?) 'Money does not stink.'

Excuse me now but I must go and do some laundry. Should I use Clorox or do it in the manner of the Romans?

 

Easy rule of thumb (at least for those familiar with US coins): A Kennedy half has a diameter of 30.1mm.

 

Vespasian, eh? ... hey JA, I'm glad that you were able to flip this OP-coin so easily, my friend (congrats)

Man, I should have bought that baby from you (it's a sweet coin), but I still only have this one cool denarius example ... I agree that V-dawg has a very collectable-face (he looks like he'd be quite a hard-liner!!)



Hey, JA => thanks again for tweaking my coin's colour (you nailed it, brother)