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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;David Atherton, post: 4519667, member: 82616&quot;]My latest acquisition is a great example of the humblest of coins with a fairly bombastic message.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1119671[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Vespasian</b></p><p>Æ Quadrans, 2.79g</p><p>Rome Mint, 75 AD</p><p>Obv: IMP VESPASIAN AVG; Rudder on globe</p><p>Rev: P M TR P P P COS V; S C in field; Caduceus, winged</p><p>RIC 736 (R). BMC 706. BNC 726.</p><p>Acquired from The Time Machine, eBay, May 2020.</p><p><br /></p><p>The quadrans in the early imperial period typically lacked an imperial portrait. Tariffed at a quarter of an As, the denomination was possibly deemed too lowly by mint officials to warrant a portrait. They were struck haphazardly and functioned primarily as an urban low value coinage in Rome and central Italy. The quadrans was the typical fee for entry into the baths, a urinal, or for a tryst in a cheap brothel. Being of rather low value quadrantes were not typically hoarded and thus are relatively scarce today being virtually absent from site finds outside central and south-central Italy (in contrast, over 1,827 quadrantes have been found at Pompeii). The rudder on globe can be explained as a symbol of the &#039;rector orbis&#039; and its pairing with the winged caduceus &#039;points to the commercial prosperity brought by good government&#039; (BMC II, pp. li, and liii). The COS V issue is the first appearance of the type under Vespasian.</p><p><br /></p><p>I really enjoy this often over-looked denomination. I wager more of these were seen by the common folk than any denarius was.</p><p><br /></p><p>Feel free to post your &#039;humble&#039; coins.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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