Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;David Atherton, post: 24771607, member: 82616&quot;]Another recent addition that I was thrilled to receive! Vespasian&#039;s sestertii from early 71 are quite rare - even more so with a reverse die recycled from Galba&#039;s reign!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1584787[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Vespasian</b></p><p>Æ Sestertius, 26.55g</p><p>Rome mint, 71 AD</p><p>Obv: IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG P M T P P P COS III; Bust of Vespasian, laureate, draped, r.</p><p>Rev: SALVS AVGVSTA; S C in exergue; Salus std. l., with patera and sceptre</p><p>RIC 111 (R2). BMC -. BNC -.</p><p>Ex Harlan J Berk, MBS 225, lot 7. Ex Curtis Clay Collection. Ex Tom Cederlind.</p><p><br /></p><p>An extremely rare sestertius struck for Vespasian between January and March 71. Curtis Clay had this to say about the piece which I cannot improve upon:</p><p><br /></p><p>&#039;Kraay in his illuminating Oxford dissertation, summarized in the new RIC, p. 22, established that Vespasian&#039;s sestertii of 71 (COS III) fall into three successive groups marked by progressive abbreviations of the emperor&#039;s name, and he suggested the following dates for the groups: IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG P M T P P P COS III: Jan.-March/April 71; Same but VESPASIAN and TR P for T P: March/April-July/August 71; Same but VESPAS: July/August-Dec. 71. The reverse SALVS AVGVSTA S C occurs mainly in the third and latest issue of the year. In the earlier groups this type is very rare. Obv. VESPASIANVS, with bust laureate and draped; the bust types and portrait features are much more varied in this early group than in the two later ones. Rev. SALVS AVGVSTA S C, from the only die known for this type in the VESPASIANVS issue. Kraay discovered that this is actually a rev. die of Galba&#039;s, engraved and used by Galba in 68 (Kraay&#039;s P 61), now reused by Vespasian about 2 1/2 years later!&#039;</p><p><br /></p><p>An utterly fantastic piece! RIC describes many of the sestertii from this issue as &#039;monumental&#039;, I think the above coin fits that description perfectly. Missing from the BM and Paris collections.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Here it is in hand.</p><p><br /></p><p>[MEDIA=youtube]PutlJRbVyLE[/MEDIA]</p><p><br /></p><p>As always, thanks for looking![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in