Tired and Worn out, but Unmistakably...Vitellius.

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Eduard, Jun 1, 2019.

  1. Eduard

    Eduard Supporter**

    These are some recent pictures of my tired and worn out Concordia sestertius of Vitellius.

    In spite of the extensive wear, I find this hefty sestertius still has a certain charm....and of course, that unmistakable Vitellian bust. I really like it.
    The planchet is somewhat 'dished', and this probably accounts for the fact that the portrait is still well outlined while most of the reverse is gone.
    (It was still a worthwhile purchase for all of 30-40 Marks back in the late 80's or early 90's. Those were the times....)

    I have been trying to find the WildWinds reference for this type, but was unable to. Maybe I am not looking right. Can any body pls. point me in the right direction?

    acsearch lists only one recorded auction appearance for this type, with the following attribution:

    Vitellius. AD 69. Æ Sestertius. Rome mint. Laureate and draped bust right / Concordia seated left, holding branch and scepter. RIC I 133.

    Vitellius Sestertius Concordia OBV1 N  - 1.jpg Vitellius Sestertius Concordia REV1 N  - 1.jpg

    Post, if you like, those worn out bronzes which hold special appeal for you.
     
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  3. Seattlite86

    Seattlite86 Outspoken Member

    I can’t help with the attribution, but the coin and its history are awesome :)
     
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  4. randygeki

    randygeki Coin Collector

  5. Orielensis

    Orielensis Well-Known Member

    Just a suspicion: RIC 133, see here.
     
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  6. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    Nice in spite of the wear @Eduard
     
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  7. Bing

    Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

    Agreed
     
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  8. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    Here's the listing in BMCRE1 (it is also RIC 133, p.275):

    Capture.JPG

    And here's the example in the British Museum collection:

    Capture 1.JPG
     
  9. Limes

    Limes Well-Known Member

    Nice addition! The coin is worn but still the face features are clearly recognizable. As i see it, of the Vitellius sestertii, there are two more common sestertius reverse types of Vitellius: mars walking, pax standing. The fact that i say they seem to be more common is by the way worth nothing, because it is only based on the types i usually see appearing in auctions. Yours is RIC 133, concordia seated. I don't see the concordia type on wildwinds, (which i use alot) and i think thats strange? My volume of Sear has it listed as Sear 2207 (Ric 133).

    Suprisingly when searching on acsearch (Vitellius concordia sestertius) i find 6 times a Galba sestertius, with green/yellow patina, being offered by Hirsh Nachfolger: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2017, 2018, 2019. Some unhappy buyers i guess...
     
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  10. Jay GT4

    Jay GT4 Well-Known Member

    Reminds me of my tired and worn out Galba. The first century sestertii are amazing in hand, so heavy.

    normal_Galbasest.jpg

    SER GALBA IMP CAESAR AVG TR P
    Laureate head left

    CONCORD AVG SC
    Concordia, seated left on low-backed chair, holding an olive branch

    Rome October 68 AD

    24.07g

    BMC 55, RIC 381, Cohen 28, Sear 2115
     
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  11. Eduard

    Eduard Supporter**

    Thank you very much @Roman Collector for posting the BMCRE reference, and for posting images of the example in that collection. Beautiful coin.
    (It did not occur to me to look in BMCRE...)
     
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  12. Eduard

    Eduard Supporter**

    Jay, that is a nice coin - I find that it quite appealing. Thank you for posting it.
    I have a Galba Sestertius with a very similar appearance.
     
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  13. Eduard

    Eduard Supporter**

    @Limes I agree with your assessment concerning the Mars and Pax types for Vitellius sestertii. These two, specially Pax are by far the most common types.
    That is also what makes the Concordia type interesting - it appears to be quite scarce. Together with the BMCRE example which Roman Collector posted, that makes it a total of 3 examples including mine. I expect, that more are out there, but it remains a scarce type.
    I am also surprised that it is not listed in Wildwinds.
     
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2019
  14. Clavdivs

    Clavdivs Well-Known Member

    Very nice coin.. I am yet to own a Vitellius.
    As for your request to post worn bronzes that appeal to me.. well I could just close my eyes and randomly pick one of my coins as almost all of them fit this category.:)

    At the moment I am very partial to this Trajan sestertius.. although my favorite coin seems to change weekly...

    TrajanSestertiusMERGE.jpg
     
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  15. kevin McGonigal

    kevin McGonigal Well-Known Member

    No damnatio memoriae for this guy.
     
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