Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Aureus - Vespasian TR POT X COS VIIII
| Issuer | Roman Imperial Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 79 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Aureus = 25 Denarii |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Laureate bust of Emperor Vespasian facing right, with bare neck and shoulder, rendered in the characteristically realistic portraiture style of the Flavian dynasty. The emperor's effigy displays the aged, strong facial features associated with Vespasian's iconography, including pronounced brow and firm jaw. The circumferential Latin legend runs along the inner border of a beaded outer rim, identifying the emperor with his full imperial titulature. The portrait occupies the central field in high relief, consistent with Julio-Claudian and early Flavian aureus production from the Rome mint. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG (Translation: Imperator Caesar Vespasianus Augustus. Supreme commander (Imperator) Caesar Vespasian, emperor (Augustus).) |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Struck in the final year of Vespasian's reign, 79 AD is the year Vesuvius buried Pompeii and Herculaneum — yet the mint continued operating without interruption, a reminder of how compartmentalized Roman imperial administration had become. Vespasian himself died in June of that year, before the eruption in August, leaving Titus to manage both the disaster response and the transfer of power.
The TR POT X dating anchors this piece to a narrow window of perhaps six months of production.