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!
Denarius - Vespasian MARS VLTOR, Mars
| Issuer | Roman Imperial Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 69-71 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Denarius, Reform of Augustus (27 BC – AD 215) |
| 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 head of Emperor Vespasian facing right, rendered in high relief with characteristic naturalistic portraiture of the Flavian period. The effigy displays the emperor's strong, mature features with a wreath of laurel leaves binding the hair. The legend encircles the bust in the field, reading from left to right. The flan is irregular in shape with a pronounced crack visible across the surface, typical of hammered coinage of this era. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The god Mars, depicted as a striding military figure advancing to the right in dynamic posture, shown in near-nude form with a military cloak (paludamentum) billowing behind him. In his right hand he carries an upright spear, while his left arm bears a trophy (tropaeum) consisting of captured enemy arms and armour mounted on a pole. The reverse legend MARS VLTOR is distributed across the field flanking the figure, invoking Mars in his role as the divine Avenger. The coin exhibits surface cracking consistent with the irregular hammered flan. |
| 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 |
Minted in the chaos immediately following the Year of the Four Emperors, this issue belongs to the early Flavian consolidation when Vespasian was still working to legitimize a dynasty founded on civil war rather than hereditary right. The MARS VLTOR reverse — Mars the Avenger — carried pointed Augustan resonance, deliberately invoking the deity Augustus had championed after Philippi to signal that the new regime understood its Roman precedents and intended to be taken seriously.
RIC II.1 1373 is associated with eastern mint production, likely Antioch or an uncertain Flavian field mint, distinct from the later Rome-struck series.