Aureus - Vespasian CERES AVGVST, Ceres

Struck during the final phase of Vespasian's reign, this aureus belongs to a group of issues that scholars believe were produced at the Rome mint under tightened fiscal oversight following the civil wars of 69 AD. Vespasian's association of Ceres with imperial authority was deliberate policy — the goddess carried explicit associations with grain supply, and the annona remained a politically sensitive instrument throughout his reign.

RIC II.1 967 is among the documented issues from the revised Flavian chronology established by the 2007 second edition, which substantially reorganized earlier attributions.