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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Parthicus Maximus, post: 4011540, member: 102867&quot;]<font size="4">I have been looking for a nice Titus for a while.&nbsp; I saw this denarius in a recent Catawiki auction.&nbsp; I was immediately interested mainly because of the combination of the depicted emperor and reverse.&nbsp; However, I had never participated in auctions before this purchase.&nbsp; I don&#039;t like it because you are constantly losing coins that you have been looking forward to.&nbsp; And the honesty area to say that my budget is also not sufficient for all auction fees.&nbsp; You also quickly pay more than you want (I experienced it).</font></p><p><font size="4"><br /></font></p><p><font size="4">My idea was to make a bid in the last two minutes, which I did.&nbsp; I expected that no one would go over it because my bid was fairly high (for the state of the coin).&nbsp; However, I was immediately outbid.&nbsp; I decided to make a final offer.&nbsp; And that turned out to be enough for my first auction acquisition</font>.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1055365[/ATTACH]</p><p>T CAESAR IMP VESPASIAN</p><p>laureate head right</p><p>COS V</p><p>bull standing right</p><p><br /></p><p>Titus Caesar 69-79</p><p>AR Denarius</p><p>Struck 76</p><p>2,77g/18mm</p><p>Ric 858 (Vespasian) (R)</p><p><br /></p><p><font size="4">There is debate about the significance of the reverse of this coin.&nbsp; Mattingly thought that the reverse depicted a statue of the cow of Myron in the new Temple of Peace only that is quite problematic since some coins of this type (including this one) clearly show that we are dealing with a bull.&nbsp; An explanation could be that we are dealing here with a statue of the Apis Bull, which was recently erected in Rome, perhaps even at the Temple of Peace.&nbsp; Personally it seems a bit unlikely.&nbsp; The question is, what does the reverse mean?&nbsp; should it be seen as an early agricultural type?&nbsp; but what good is a bull on the land?&nbsp; Not the first animal you think of when you want to portray agriculture.</font></p><p><font size="4"><br /></font></p><p><font size="4">When you look at the scarce sources about the Flavian period.&nbsp; There is something remarkable to be found in the short biography of Titus by Suetonius.</font></p><p><br /></p><p><i><font size="4">This aroused the suspicion that he had tried to revolt from his father and make himself king of the East; and he strengthened this suspicion on his way to Alexandria by wearing a diadem at the consecration of the bull Apis in Memphis, an act quite in accord with the usual ceremonial of that ancient religion, but unfavourably interpreted by some.</font></i></p><p><i><font size="4"><br /></font></i></p><p><i><font size="4">Suetonius, life of Titus (5,3)</font></i></p><p><i><font size="4"><br /></font></i></p><p><font size="4">What does this quote mean?&nbsp; I don&#039;t think Titus really wanted to be king over the east.&nbsp; However, the source shows that Titus was at least interested in the Apis bull.&nbsp; This Egyptian deity, worshiped for centuries, was the Egyptian god of the Kings and fertility.&nbsp; We do not know how much influence Titus had on his own coins, but if we look at the freedom of Domitian&#039;s reverses, Titus must have had something to say.&nbsp; However, the type also appeared for Vespasian.&nbsp; I think it mainly wants to emphasize the royal status of Vespasian and Titus. Moreover, it also copies a Denarius of Augustus, so ideal Flavian propaganda. So the coin shows the Apis bull, I think, but it does not refer to a specific statue.</font></p><p><font size="4"><br /></font></p><p><u><font size="4">Please, show your favorite Titus coins.</font></u></p><p><font size="4"><br /></font></p><p><font size="4"><u>Do not let it go when you have a different theory or replenishment for the significance of the reverse.</u></font>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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