Judaea Capta!

This sentence is unequivocally true.

Good for you! Rock on!!!

Here are some of my Judaea Capta examples:

Vespasian sestertius...


Titus denarius...


Vespasian denarius...


Titus AE23 (poor image quality)...


Domitian AE26...

 

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Great coin, and for a great price as well! I had no idea when I voted for it in your “favorite of my favorites” poll that it was such a recent acquisition. It has all the eye appeal of a coin costing 3x as much. What an absolutely stellar piece, sure to be a favorite for years to come.

 

I purchased this 'Judaea Capta' just after I posted the poll. The one in the poll is a slightly different type and in a more worn state.

The 'Germania Capta' denarius was the runaway winner ... I wonder if that would still be the case if it had been up against this latest addition?

 

Very nice, I'm glad you found one!

 

And just to add some statistical facts, I went through all the RIC 159 'Judaea Capta' types listed on asearch.info and found 41 that are not altered and 36 that are smoothed and/or tooled. Cavet emptor indeed.

 

David, I'm not a whiz at coin grading (using "Like/Want" and "Pass" rather than a Sheldon-equivalent ranking) a grade of Fair seems wrong for your coin. It looks much higher grade to me. Do you and others here think this grade is wrongly low?

Regardless of letter grade, it is a gorgeous coin. I agree with the new favorites poll redux in that this is a virtual tie with the Germania Capta denarius. It was a difficult decision-- I stayed with the Germania Capta because it is less commonly seen but perhaps if I was given a choice of your coins, I'd take this fantastic sestertius .

 

I think in this case 'F' means Fine, which correlates fairly well with the 'good Fine' assigned to the piece in Triton V. 'Good Fine' seems about right to me.

Yea, it's a tough choice. I give the edge to the 'Judaea Capta' because of the history and its unadulterated condition.

 

Oh, right-- I forgot what F stood for, although I did recall its rank in the scheme of things.

 

My only one and humble example:

Silver denarius, RIC II-1 2; Hendin 1479; 2.862g, 9.3mm, Rome mint, 69 - 70 A.D.; obverse IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG, laureate head right; reverse IVDAEA, Jewess seated right, mourning, veiled, supporting chin with left hand, trophy of captured arms behind her.

 

Very nice, a great coin for anybody's collection!

 

That is really a fantastic coin. Congrats on the score!!!

 

A little postscript regarding the palm tree depicted on most 'Judaea Capta' coins.


Roman mint masters often chose the most recognisable export of a particular region to allegorically represent it on the coinage. The date palm for centuries had traditionally been the symbol of Judaea, perhaps because this was the first region where Greek and Roman travellers met it when proceeding southward. Tacitus particularly notes the importance of Judaea's palms (Hist. v, 6). The Jews themselves in post-Biblical days often used the palm as a symbol of the land on their own coinage. When it came time for the Flavian mint masters to represent the conquest Judaea there was no better choice for their coin designs than the date palm. The palm symbolising the land and a weeping Jewess the people were powerful images of conquest. Probably the starkest example of this motif shows up on an early denarius struck just after the fall of Jerusalem depicting a bound Jewess sitting beneath a palm. It is much rarer than the traditional 'Judaea Capta' denarius with a trophy.


Vespasian
AR Denarius, 2.71g
Rome Mint, 69-70 AD
Obv: IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG; Head of Vespasian, laureate, r.
Rev: IVDAEA in ex.; Jewess (as type of Judaea), draped and veiled, seated r. on ground, head inclined downwards, l. knee drawn up, hand bound behind back and fastened to palm-tree
RIC 4 (R). BMC 43. RSC 229. BNC -.
Acquired from Zuzim Judaea, May 2012.

And another struck at Lyon depicts a bound Jewess standing beneath a palm with the legend 'IVDAEA DEVICTA'!

Vespasian
AR Denarius, 3.10g
Lyon mint, 71 AD
Obv: IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG TR P; Head of Vespasian, laureate, r.
Rev: IVDAEA DEVICTA; Palm tree; to l., Judaea stg. l., hands bound in front
RIC 1120 (C). BMC 388. RSC 243. BNC 297.
Acquired from eBay, March 2012.