Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 125 23-24 Jun 2021
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Uncertain mint in Asia, Ephesus (?). Vespasian augustus, 69 – 79.
Denarius 76, AR 3.59 g. IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG Laureate head r.; at neck truncation, o. Rev. COS – VII Eagle standing facing, head r. on altar with open wings. C –. BMC –. RIC 1471. CBN –. RPC 1451B.
Extremely rare, apparently the finest of only four specimens known. Struck on
a very broad flan and with a lovely iridescent tone. Extremely fine
Ex Tradart 17 November 1994, 164 and Tradart 20, 2014, 271 (miscatalogued) sales.
We were hesitant to include this coin among the series of the uncertain mints of Asia as the style of the portrait was not too differnt from the portrait of the mint of Rome, but the collector rightly argued that the presence of an annulet below neck truncation strongly points to an uncertain Asian Mint (possibly Ephesus).
This interesting denarius of Vespasian is just one of only three or four known examples. At the time Carradice and Buttrey published the revised edition of RIC II, part 1, in 2007, there was but a single example known, the citation in RIC being "eBay 5/3/03." Since then, two additional specimens have appeared, both at auction, the first sold in Gemini sale X, 2013, lot 743, the second from the collection of A. Tricarico which was sold in Rauch sale 110, 2020, lot 233. The specimen cited in RIC is, unfortunately, not illustrated. This coin comes from an issue of denarii which has a small o below the neck truncation that, although invariably there, is quite often difficult to see (fortunately on our coin it is clearly struck). From the consular dates found on the coins – COS VII for Vespasian, COS V for Titus, and COS III and COS IIII for Domitian – it appears to have been struck in AD 76. The issue is clearly provincial, but the mint has not yet been securely established. The small o below the neck truncation seems to be a mint signature, similar to the various mint signatures found on Flavian coins from Ephesus (RIC 1390-1470), but the coins are stylistically distinct from the earlier Ephesian issues and display broader portraits and crowded legends with large, uneven lettering. Nonetheless, the last issue of Ephesian coins do have a small annulet as the mint mark, and the small o here may have been intended as an extension of that annulet. It is for this reason that the authors of RIC attributed this issue to Ephesus (?). A most unusual aspect of this series is that there exist many examples with incompatible obverses and reverses, producing unlikely and bizarre titles (e.g. PON MAX TR P COS V for Titus, and TR P and P M for Domitian).
Denarius 76, AR 3.59 g. IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG Laureate head r.; at neck truncation, o. Rev. COS – VII Eagle standing facing, head r. on altar with open wings. C –. BMC –. RIC 1471. CBN –. RPC 1451B.
Extremely rare, apparently the finest of only four specimens known. Struck on
a very broad flan and with a lovely iridescent tone. Extremely fine
Ex Tradart 17 November 1994, 164 and Tradart 20, 2014, 271 (miscatalogued) sales.
We were hesitant to include this coin among the series of the uncertain mints of Asia as the style of the portrait was not too differnt from the portrait of the mint of Rome, but the collector rightly argued that the presence of an annulet below neck truncation strongly points to an uncertain Asian Mint (possibly Ephesus).
This interesting denarius of Vespasian is just one of only three or four known examples. At the time Carradice and Buttrey published the revised edition of RIC II, part 1, in 2007, there was but a single example known, the citation in RIC being "eBay 5/3/03." Since then, two additional specimens have appeared, both at auction, the first sold in Gemini sale X, 2013, lot 743, the second from the collection of A. Tricarico which was sold in Rauch sale 110, 2020, lot 233. The specimen cited in RIC is, unfortunately, not illustrated. This coin comes from an issue of denarii which has a small o below the neck truncation that, although invariably there, is quite often difficult to see (fortunately on our coin it is clearly struck). From the consular dates found on the coins – COS VII for Vespasian, COS V for Titus, and COS III and COS IIII for Domitian – it appears to have been struck in AD 76. The issue is clearly provincial, but the mint has not yet been securely established. The small o below the neck truncation seems to be a mint signature, similar to the various mint signatures found on Flavian coins from Ephesus (RIC 1390-1470), but the coins are stylistically distinct from the earlier Ephesian issues and display broader portraits and crowded legends with large, uneven lettering. Nonetheless, the last issue of Ephesian coins do have a small annulet as the mint mark, and the small o here may have been intended as an extension of that annulet. It is for this reason that the authors of RIC attributed this issue to Ephesus (?). A most unusual aspect of this series is that there exist many examples with incompatible obverses and reverses, producing unlikely and bizarre titles (e.g. PON MAX TR P COS V for Titus, and TR P and P M for Domitian).