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As - Vespasian AEQVITAS AVGVSTI S C, Aequitas
| Issuer | Roman Imperial Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 77-78 |
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| Value | 1 As = 1⁄16 Denarii |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Laureate head of Vespasian facing right, with a small globe positioned at the point of the neck truncation, a characteristic feature of his later coinage. The portrait is rendered in a naturalistic style typical of Flavian imperial portraiture, conveying authority and gravitas. The legend encircles the bust, reading clockwise from the lower left. The flan is slightly irregular, as is common for hammered bronze issues of this period. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
By 77–78 AD, Vespasian's administration had spent nearly a decade rebuilding Rome's finances after the civil wars of 69 AD left the treasury effectively empty. The AEQVITAS AVGVSTI reverse was a deliberate fiscal message — Aequitas, the personification of fair dealing in weights and measures, was invoked specifically to reassure provincial commerce that the imperial coinage had been stabilized and debased no further. Vespasian himself was unusually candid about his revenue methods, famously defending a tax on public urinals with the remark that money has no smell.