Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Electronic Auction 511 9 Mar 2022
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Vespasian. AD 69-79. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.02 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 74. Laureate head right / Two laurel trees (or branches) upright. RIC II.1 681 (R); RSC 110. Granular surfaces. VF.
This reverse type was copied from a similar type first used by Augustus in 19-18 BC. It celebrates the honor granted to him by the Senate of placing laurel trees or branches before the entrance of his house. This is how Augustus represents the event: "In my sixth and seventh consulships, when I had extinguished the flames of civil war, after receiving by universal consent the absolute control of affairs, I transferred the republic from my own control to the will of the senate and the Roman people. For this service on my part I was given the title of Augustus by decree of the senate, and the doorposts of my house were covered with laurels by public act, and a civic crown was fixed above my door, and a golden shield was placed in the Curia Julia whose inscription testified that the senate and the Roman people gave me this in recognition of my valour, my clemency, my justice, and my piety. After that time I took precedence of all in rank, but of power I possessed no more than those who were my colleagues in any magistracy" (Res Gestae 34).
This reverse type was copied from a similar type first used by Augustus in 19-18 BC. It celebrates the honor granted to him by the Senate of placing laurel trees or branches before the entrance of his house. This is how Augustus represents the event: "In my sixth and seventh consulships, when I had extinguished the flames of civil war, after receiving by universal consent the absolute control of affairs, I transferred the republic from my own control to the will of the senate and the Roman people. For this service on my part I was given the title of Augustus by decree of the senate, and the doorposts of my house were covered with laurels by public act, and a civic crown was fixed above my door, and a golden shield was placed in the Curia Julia whose inscription testified that the senate and the Roman people gave me this in recognition of my valour, my clemency, my justice, and my piety. After that time I took precedence of all in rank, but of power I possessed no more than those who were my colleagues in any magistracy" (Res Gestae 34).