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<p>[QUOTE="The Meat man, post: 24489248, member: 135271"]Here is one for [USER=82616]@David Atherton[/USER] :</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_04/vespasian_as.jpg.2cfa515c7b050ec863f47a38137ecc8b.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_04/vespasian_as.jpg.2cfa515c7b050ec863f47a38137ecc8b.jpg" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_04/vespasian_as.jpg.2cfa515c7b050ec863f47a38137ecc8b.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>What first drew me to this coin was the impressive portrait - done in typically fine style, and in good condition. I've also been on the lookout for nice Roman bronze as coins - and I lacked one of Vespasian. I also thought the Spes reverse would go well with my Titus (as Caesar) coin of the same type.</p><p><br /></p><p>Then as I typically do I started researching the coin - being a left-facing portrait was a bit unusual - and I found almost no types like it online. It is the combination of the left-facing portrait with the obverse legend ending in "COS VII" - OCRE lists it as RIC II 895 but provides no examples. An extensive search on asearch.com revealed just two examples - <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=8355214" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=8355214" rel="nofollow">this coin</a> (from a couple years ago) and another <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3181129" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3181129" rel="nofollow">one sold through Roma</a> in 2016 (although with the Roma coin, I can't really tell from the photo; the auction description gives the RIC 895 obverse legend, but they listed it as 894 - clearly in error)</p><p><br /></p><p>I couldn't find any currently for sale anywhere and I also searched different dealer's archived listings but couldn't find any. Nor any on wildwinds.com. It is also missing from the British collection.</p><p><br /></p><p>Knowing that if anyone could give more information about the coin, it would be the Flavian Fanatic, I went over to Forvm Ancient Coins Gallery. Sure enough, there was an example in the Atherton collection. Here is what David Atherton writes:</p><p><br /></p><p><i>"An extremely rare left facing portrait variant of the common COS VII Spes. The right facing variant of the type is considered by RIC (p. 51) to be the single most common bronze coin struck for Vespasian. The left facing portrait is another story! RIC cites only Berlin for the left facing variant, although the catalogue's authors Carradice and Buttrey must have known of a few other specimens in order to assign it a frequency rating of just 'rare'. I could not locate any other specimens online either in trade or in a major collection. A truly scarce coin!" </i>(<a href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=search&cat=0&pid=168681#top_display_media" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=search&cat=0&pid=168681#top_display_media" rel="nofollow">David Atherton, FORVM ANCIENT COINS Member's Gallery</a></p><p><br /></p><p>That makes a total of three examples that I could find - the one Roma sold in 2016, the Atherton coin, and this one. The interesting fact of the coin's scarcity, added to the eye appeal of the portrait, was enough to tip my decision to buy.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="The Meat man, post: 24489248, member: 135271"]Here is one for [USER=82616]@David Atherton[/USER] : [URL='https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_04/vespasian_as.jpg.2cfa515c7b050ec863f47a38137ecc8b.jpg'][IMG]https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_04/vespasian_as.jpg.2cfa515c7b050ec863f47a38137ecc8b.jpg[/IMG][/URL] What first drew me to this coin was the impressive portrait - done in typically fine style, and in good condition. I've also been on the lookout for nice Roman bronze as coins - and I lacked one of Vespasian. I also thought the Spes reverse would go well with my Titus (as Caesar) coin of the same type. Then as I typically do I started researching the coin - being a left-facing portrait was a bit unusual - and I found almost no types like it online. It is the combination of the left-facing portrait with the obverse legend ending in "COS VII" - OCRE lists it as RIC II 895 but provides no examples. An extensive search on asearch.com revealed just two examples - [URL='https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=8355214']this coin[/URL] (from a couple years ago) and another [URL='https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3181129']one sold through Roma[/URL] in 2016 (although with the Roma coin, I can't really tell from the photo; the auction description gives the RIC 895 obverse legend, but they listed it as 894 - clearly in error) I couldn't find any currently for sale anywhere and I also searched different dealer's archived listings but couldn't find any. Nor any on wildwinds.com. It is also missing from the British collection. Knowing that if anyone could give more information about the coin, it would be the Flavian Fanatic, I went over to Forvm Ancient Coins Gallery. Sure enough, there was an example in the Atherton collection. Here is what David Atherton writes: [I]"An extremely rare left facing portrait variant of the common COS VII Spes. The right facing variant of the type is considered by RIC (p. 51) to be the single most common bronze coin struck for Vespasian. The left facing portrait is another story! RIC cites only Berlin for the left facing variant, although the catalogue's authors Carradice and Buttrey must have known of a few other specimens in order to assign it a frequency rating of just 'rare'. I could not locate any other specimens online either in trade or in a major collection. A truly scarce coin!" [/I]([URL='https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=search&cat=0&pid=168681#top_display_media']David Atherton, FORVM ANCIENT COINS Member's Gallery[/URL] That makes a total of three examples that I could find - the one Roma sold in 2016, the Atherton coin, and this one. The interesting fact of the coin's scarcity, added to the eye appeal of the portrait, was enough to tip my decision to buy.[/QUOTE]
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