Denarius - Vespasian

Vespasian came to power at the end of the Year of the Four Emperors, a civil war that had burned through Galba, Otho, and Vitellius in under eighteen months. His coinage from 69–71 carried deliberate propagandistic weight — issues from this window were instrumental in establishing dynastic legitimacy for a man whose only claim to the purple was military force and the loyalty of the eastern legions.

RIC II.1 1389 belongs to the early Flavian recoinage program, during which vast quantities of debased Neronian silver were recalled and reminted at a restored standard.