{"product_id":"898063-coin-vespasian-aureus-69-70-uncertain-western-mint-extremely-rare","title":"Vespasian, Aureus, 69-70, Uncertain Western mint, Extremely rare, Gold","description":"\u003cp id=\"head\"\u003eHead of Vespasian, laureate, right.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp id=\"reverse\"\u003eConcordia seated left, holding patera and cornucopiae.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp id=\"comment\"\u003eAn aureus of the highest rarity! Only two specimens have been seen in sales to private collectors, and a third specimen is kept at the Bibliothèque nationale de France! It is also the same reverse die as RIC 1349, currently in the British Museum. \r\nIdentified as an early issue in the reign of Vespasian, this aureus with the Concordia type, a common type in imperial coinage at the end of the 1st century AD, actually appeared at the very end of the Julio-Claudian period under Nero, before being adopted by the following emperors. It is therefore one of the earliest examples, for the aurei coinages, of the Concordia type, already adopted by its predecessors in the \"year of the 4 emperors\", Galba and Vitellius.\r\nThe portrait is particularly eye-catching, in a style that could be described as \"pre-Flavian\", and it does not perfectly reflect Vespasian's usual facial traits, which can be found in the issues of the Rome mint. And for good reason: the mint where this coin was struck is unknown to us, and we can only date it to the very beginning of Vespasian's reign. \r\nIt would therefore seem that this coin, and the other two known examples, were part of extremely limited issues, at least for gold. Perhaps struck under less official conditions, or in a secondary mint, like the issues from the Tarraco mint of which we can cite RIC I² Vespasian 1297, whose portrait is very different from the Flavian portraits. We have here an absolute rarity in the coinages of Vespasian. It is characteristic of the beginning of his reign, when, despite his intention to establish himself as the restorer of peace, in opposition to the chaos created by Otto, Galba and Vitellius, he did not forget to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors by striking coins of the same types in order to ensure continuity, not to create a rupture in the minds of those who were to receive the coins, first and foremost the Roman legions in his service, but also those who joined him later.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp id=\"headCaption\"\u003eIMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp id=\"reverseCaption\"\u003eCONCORDIA AVG\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp id=\"weight\"\u003e7.41 gr\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"cdma","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43542117974245,"sku":"898063","price":16900.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0637\/1655\/7029\/files\/898063A.jpg?v=1714999799","url":"https:\/\/www.numiscorner.com\/products\/898063-coin-vespasian-aureus-69-70-uncertain-western-mint-extremely-rare","provider":"Numiscorner.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}