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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 2313812, member: 19463&quot;]<a href="http://www.italiannotebook.com/art-archaeology/vespasian-urinals/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.italiannotebook.com/art-archaeology/vespasian-urinals/" rel="nofollow">http://www.italiannotebook.com/art-archaeology/vespasian-urinals/</a></p><p>I fear there may be some among us not aware that the smirk on Vespasian&#039;s face on coins around 74 AD most certainly came from his pleasure with the revenues from his Urine Tax.&nbsp;&nbsp; The story is the most often told about Vespasian but in case anyone needs a refresher, the link is above.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]466681[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>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&#039;t to any degree).&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; Some of us might even think it was a sestertius since it is as big as some later sestertii but Vespasian&#039;s real sestertii were really big rather like those of Galba and Vitellius before him.&nbsp; That is a problem with talking coins online using photos.&nbsp; It is hard to visualize the size of the coins.&nbsp; 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 &#039;in hand&#039;.&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; Why is a hard question to answer (ask any parent of small children) even without a 2000 year gap in time.&nbsp; 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?) &#039;Money does not stink.&#039;</p><p><br /></p><p>Excuse me now but I must go and do some laundry.&nbsp; Should I use Clorox or do it in the manner of the Romans?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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