Aureus - Vitellius and Lucius Vitellius Pater L VITELLIVS COS III CENSOR

Vitellius struck this aureus honoring his father Lucius Vitellius, who had served as censor under Claudius and held three consulships — an extraordinary record for a man who survived the treacherous courts of Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius alike. The elder Lucius was dead by 51 AD, making this a posthumous tribute issued nearly two decades after his death, deployed by his son during the civil war of 69 AD as a deliberate legitimizing gesture.

RIC I 94 is among the rarer Vitellian gold issues. Vitellius held power for only eight months before Vespasian's forces entered Rome.