Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 125 23-24 Jun 2021
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Uncertain Western Mint.
Denarius circa 69 to 71, AR 3.39 g. IMP CAESAR [VE]SPASIANVS AVG. Laureate head r. Rev. Vespasian, holding sceptre, in slow quadriga r. accompanied by Titus and Domitian caesares. C –. BMC –. RIC 1370 (this coin). CBN –.
Unique and most probably another issue related to the campaign in Judaea.
A very unusual portrait struck in high relief and with a light old cabinet
tone. Obverse slightly off-centre. Otherwise about extremely fine
Ex Triton VI, 2003, 840 and Aureo & Calicò 241, 2012, Pepe Fernandez Molina, 58 sales.
This unique denarius is remarkable for the unusual stylistic treatment of the obverse portrait in high relief and especially for the reverse type that depicts Vespasian in a slow quadriga accompanied by Titus and Domitian. The latter are represented on a smaller scale than Vespasian with their heads just peeking over the top of the chariot car. Although it is not explicitly indicated by the bald legend IMP, the chariot suggests a triumphal context and in the period AD 69-71 this could only be the triumph celebrated in AD 71 by Vespasian and Titus for the fall of Jerusalem (AD 70) representing Roman victory in the Jewish War (AD 66-73). If the reverse type does indeed represent the Jewish triumph, the engraver has taken some artistic license. According to Josephus, who described the triumphal procession in detail, Vespasian and Titus appeared separately, riding in their own chariots as victors, while Domitian, who had actually played no role in the victory but was nevertheless included in the triumph, rode on a white horse. This reverse type was true to the aims of Flavian dynastic propaganda by reducing real events into a single image to emphasize the family solidarity of Vespasian and his sons.
Denarius circa 69 to 71, AR 3.39 g. IMP CAESAR [VE]SPASIANVS AVG. Laureate head r. Rev. Vespasian, holding sceptre, in slow quadriga r. accompanied by Titus and Domitian caesares. C –. BMC –. RIC 1370 (this coin). CBN –.
Unique and most probably another issue related to the campaign in Judaea.
A very unusual portrait struck in high relief and with a light old cabinet
tone. Obverse slightly off-centre. Otherwise about extremely fine
Ex Triton VI, 2003, 840 and Aureo & Calicò 241, 2012, Pepe Fernandez Molina, 58 sales.
This unique denarius is remarkable for the unusual stylistic treatment of the obverse portrait in high relief and especially for the reverse type that depicts Vespasian in a slow quadriga accompanied by Titus and Domitian. The latter are represented on a smaller scale than Vespasian with their heads just peeking over the top of the chariot car. Although it is not explicitly indicated by the bald legend IMP, the chariot suggests a triumphal context and in the period AD 69-71 this could only be the triumph celebrated in AD 71 by Vespasian and Titus for the fall of Jerusalem (AD 70) representing Roman victory in the Jewish War (AD 66-73). If the reverse type does indeed represent the Jewish triumph, the engraver has taken some artistic license. According to Josephus, who described the triumphal procession in detail, Vespasian and Titus appeared separately, riding in their own chariots as victors, while Domitian, who had actually played no role in the victory but was nevertheless included in the triumph, rode on a white horse. This reverse type was true to the aims of Flavian dynastic propaganda by reducing real events into a single image to emphasize the family solidarity of Vespasian and his sons.