Watch List notes:

The Roman Empire
Vespasian, 69 – 79

Sestertius circa 71, Æ 25.72 g. IMP CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M TR P P P COS III Laureate head r. Rev. IVDAEA CAPTA Jewess seated r. on cuirass under palm tree in attitude of mourning; behind palm, Jew standing r., hands tied behind back; in field l., pile of arms. In exergue, S C. C 234 var. (CAESAR). BMC corr. 533 (no spear before Jewess, this reverse die). RIC 424. Hendin 773. CBN cf. 490 (no spear before Jewess).
Very rare and in superb condition for the issue. Well-struck and centred on
full flan and with a lovely enamel-like green patina, gently smoothed,
otherwise extremely fine


Ex Triton sale VIII, 2005, 1007. From the Michael Weller Collection.

A great example from the Judaea Capta series. A really nice coin worthy of the finest collections. MSG.

Vespasian's greatest military triumph was the war he and his son Titus waged in Judaea at the end of Nero's reign. The campaign was so difficult that the Flavians celebrated its conclusion with triumphal processions, games, a triumphal arch and an uncommonly extensive series of coins. This sestertius is one of the most remarkable examples to have survived, with even the smallest details perfectly preserved. Most impressive is the miniature portrait of Vespasian on the obverse, the engraving of which would have tested the skills of even the most gifted artist. With dual sympathies the chronicler Josephus wrote an in-depth narrative of the Roman campaign in Judaea. We are told of great suffering by both Jews and Romans, though in the final analysis the Jews bore the lion's share of the consequences. The Roman dead numbered in the tens of thousands, and Josephus counts the number of Jewish dead in the millions, with most having succumbed to famine or pestilence. Josephus describes what the Romans encountered when they breached the walls of Jerusalem and began to search the subterranean portion of the city: "So horrible was the stench from the bodies which met the intruders, that many instantly withdrew, but others penetrated further through avarice, trampling over heaps of corpses; for many precious objects were found in these passages..." In the aftermath, Josephus reports that the Romans "...selected the tallest and most handsome of the youth and reserved each of them for the triumph; of the rest, those over seventeen years of age he sent in chains to the mines in Egypt, while multitudes were presented by Titus to the various provinces, to be destroyed in the theatres by the sword or by wild beasts; those under seventeen were sold."