Heritage World Coin Auctions
ANA Signature Sale 3048 11 August 2016
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Vespasian (AD 69-79). AV aureus (19mm, 7.30 gm, 5h). Lugdunum, AD 70. IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG TR P, laureate head of Vespasian right / COS ITER FORT RED, Fortuna standing left, holding cornucopia cradled in left arm and resting right hand on ship's prow behind. RIC 1104. BMCRE 373. Calicó 602. Rare provincial aureus, particularly difficult to obtain in high grade. Detailed strike, lustrous surfaces. NGC AU 4/5 - 4/5.As the last man standing after the infamous "Year of the Four Emperors" (AD 68-69), Vespasian he brought a businessman's common sense and a bracing dose of pragmatism to the imperial administration. Some of the blue-bloods grumbled about Vespasian's parsimony and his uncouth manners, but the return of stability and prosperity squelched most complaints, and his earthy sense of humor made him beloved by the common folk. His decade of rule was largely untroubled by revolts and conspiracies. Upon his death due to a sudden illness in AD 79 he was widely and sincerely mourned, and power passed smoothly to his son Titus. This aureus, struck early in his reign at the Gallic mint of Lugdunum (Lyon), gives Vespasian the rustic features of a "salt-of-the-earth" farmer, fully in keeping with the image he chose to project.
Estimate: 14000-18000 USD
Vespasian (AD 69-79). AV aureus (19mm, 7.30 gm, 5h). Lugdunum, AD 70. IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG TR P, laureate head of Vespasian right / COS ITER FORT RED, Fortuna standing left, holding cornucopia cradled in left arm and resting right hand on ship's prow behind. RIC 1104. BMCRE 373. Calicó 602. Rare provincial aureus, particularly difficult to obtain in high grade. Detailed strike, lustrous surfaces. NGC AU 4/5 - 4/5.As the last man standing after the infamous "Year of the Four Emperors" (AD 68-69), Vespasian he brought a businessman's common sense and a bracing dose of pragmatism to the imperial administration. Some of the blue-bloods grumbled about Vespasian's parsimony and his uncouth manners, but the return of stability and prosperity squelched most complaints, and his earthy sense of humor made him beloved by the common folk. His decade of rule was largely untroubled by revolts and conspiracies. Upon his death due to a sudden illness in AD 79 he was widely and sincerely mourned, and power passed smoothly to his son Titus. This aureus, struck early in his reign at the Gallic mint of Lugdunum (Lyon), gives Vespasian the rustic features of a "salt-of-the-earth" farmer, fully in keeping with the image he chose to project.
Estimate: 14000-18000 USD