Thanks to a tip from David Atherton I picked up this little beauty that arrived yesterday. This is a coin that most collectors, including myself, thought was a regular Rome mint denarius. In fact it comes from the mysterious Eastern "O" mint and is actually quite rare. This one shares the same dies as David's example and Ted Buttrey had assigned it a new number for the RIC II.1 adenda as 1477A. "O" mint Flavians are an amazing area for collecting and research. They're out there, you just gotta find them. Thanks for the tip David! http://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-153005 RIC 1477A Vespasian denarius IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG Head of Vespasian, laureate, r., a small 'o' mint mark below neck PON MAX TR P COS VII (from high l.) Winged caduceus Unknown "O" mint, 76 AD 3.17g RIC 1477A Ex-Numismatica Prados A unique specimen of the caduceus type from the rare and mysterious 'O' mint. This rare variant has the reverse legend starting from the upper left, all other known examples start from the lower right. Die matched to David Atherton's example and purchased through his recommendation.
A great pickup @Jay GT4 . Nice to see I am not the only one adding a few Flavian rarities! Yes, they are out there and the search is most of the fun! Also a tip of the hat to David for being such an accessible and helpful expert on these coins.
Very cool! Curious... It's it below the neck entirely? Or on the neck below the ear? Not sure I can see it....
Jay, as I mentioned previously, it's nice to see a coin find its rightful home. Unfortunately, these 'o' mint denarii don't come around all that often!
I don't see it either and don't have a Vespasian but this Titus shows the O location. Any O coin deserves a photo that shows it.
Here are few more of my "O" mint coins. You can see the O more clearly on the second one RIC 1496 Domitian denarius CAESAR AVG F DOMITIANVS laureate head right, small 'o' below neck truncation PON MAX TR P COS IIII winged caduceus. Uncertain eastern "O" mint 76 AD 3.24g RIC II 1496 (R2); BMCRE II, 489; RSC II, 369; RPC II, 1469. Apart from the COS IIII, these titles are appropriate for Vespasian, not Domitian as Caesar RIC 1495 Domitian denarius CAESAR AVG F DOMITIANVS Laureate head right FIDES PVBL Hands clasped over caduceus, two poppies and two corn ears Uncertain eastern "O" mint 76 AD 3.21g RIC 1495 (R) Ex-TC collection, Ex-Calgary Coin
Here is my only 'O' mint denarius. You can see the 'O' beneath the neck truncation. Vespasian (69-79). AR Denarius (18.5mm, 2.77g, 6h). Ephesus? c. AD 76. ‘O’ mint Obv: Laureate head r. Rev: Pegasus stepping r. RIC II 1473; RSC 114a; RPC II 1451.
