Quadrans PON M TR P P P COS III S C

Vespasian's quadrantes of 71 AD occupy an odd corner of imperial coinage — the smallest denomination in regular production, used primarily for minor transactions and public bath entry fees. This particular reverse type, issued in his third consulship year, falls within a brief window when the new Flavian regime was actively normalizing coinage after the disruptions of the 69 AD civil war, the Year of the Four Emperors having left the mint infrastructure under significant strain. The S C notation on a bronze of this size is a bureaucratic formality; the Senate's nominal oversight of base metal coinage meant little under Vespasian's consolidating hand.