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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Julius Germanicus, post: 4231891, member: 80783&quot;]Before reading on you must excuse me for the low grade of the coin I am about to show you - I promise there is some eye candy at the end of this post as a compensation <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> ).</p><p><br /></p><p>Vitellius´ bronze coinage from the mint of Rome is much rarer than his earlier output from Tarraco and it was only at the capital that the Emperor struck the Sestertii which are rare and collectible today.</p><p><br /></p><p>Genuine Sestertii of Vitellius are outnumbered by Denarii of his by the factor 20 to 1, so my specimen is of course a compromise but I am more that happy to fill this vacancy in my Sestertius collection. Of course genuine Sestertii of his are also vastly outnumbered by Paduans. My coin has been deemed genuine by two experts so far but only from pictures I must admit.</p><p><br /></p><p>After his victory against Otho and a lengthy trip, Vitellius entered Rome on July 17, 69 and received the titles Augustus and Pontifex Maximus the following day. It was therefore only in late July of that year that the mint of the capital started striking for him, for all those coins bear AVG in his title.</p><p><br /></p><p>The first emission of bronze coinage from Rome, labeled „group (i)“ by RIC, features the title GERMANICVS in full length. It was at this point that Vitellius introduced Mars on his coinage, maybe to celebrate his campaign against Otho or even to rally the support of the god of war against Vespasian.</p><p><br /></p><p>Mars was restricted&nbsp; to Sestertii and appeared in two guises, one as MARS VICTOR, the giver of Victory, hastening to convey his good tidings to the Emperor. Two varieties of this type exist, one with trophy (RIC 115), the other with an Aquila standard (RIC 116) in the left hand of Mars.</p><p><br /></p><p>The other type, S.C. MARS, as represented by my new arrival, is the first appearance of an interesting Mars type, according to BMCRE not infrequently identified as „Mars Pater“ – very probably taken from a well-known statue group of Mars and Rhea (Dodd in Num.Chr. 1911, p.227).</p><p><br /></p><p>As with the MARS VICTOR reverse, two varieties of the walking Mars type are recorded: One with Mars carrying a Trophaeum in his left hand (RIC 120), and one with him carrying an Aquila (RIC 121, BMCRE 60, Cohen 89, Sear 2208 var.).</p><p><br /></p><p>While practically all coins of the first variety (with trophy) look to be either tooled or cast, the second (Aquila) seems to be represented&nbsp; by at least half a dozen authentic specimens from three pairs of dies.</p><p><br /></p><p>In September 69 the Germanicus title in the obverse legend was shortened to GERMAN, creating RIC´s group (ii) of Vitellius´ coinage of the Rome mint.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1082086[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>A VITELLIVS GERMAN IMP AVG PM TR P - Laureate, draped bust of Vitellius right</p><p>S C - Mars, helmeted and naked but for cloak, advancing right, holding transverse spear in right hand and Aquila standard in left hand over left shoulder.</p><p>Sestertius, Rome July/August 69 aD</p><p>35,5 mm</p><p>RIC - , Cohen -, BMCRE -, Sear -</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1082085[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>For this emission, all sources (BMCRE 58, CBN 108, C 79, Sear 2208, ERIC II 128) erroneously only record the version of Mars carrying a trophy over his left shoulder.</p><p><br /></p><p>I have found that practically all coins showing Mars carrying a trophy including those in museums and those sold as genuine have die links with aftercasts, while most genuine specimens again show Mars shouldering an Aquila standard instead.</p><p><br /></p><p>On the other hand, practically all of the numerous and popular Paduans and aftercasts of both legend varieties of this Mars type show Mars carrying the trophy, a fact that might have fooled the experts in believing that this was the rule in the first place. They may also have been influenced by the fact that the trophy became standard on later versions of this type as seen on Sestertii by Vespasian, Titus and others.</p><p><br /></p><p>The device carried by Mars on my Sestertius has also been identified as an Aquila on top of a disc by one expert.</p><p><br /></p><p>This beautiful specimen (which I would gladly trade against mine) from similar dies clearly shows the eagle:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1082105[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>And here is a rare original 16th century struck Paduan which shows the trophy:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1082106[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>I think an Aquila standard in Mars´ hand would better symbolize Mars as the bringer of war, leading the Vitellian troops to victory, that a trophy implying a victorious but saturated god on the way home.</p><p><br /></p><p>Please share your thoughts and coins of Vitellius![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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