Sestertius - Vespasian S C, Spes

Vespasian struck heavily in bronze during the 70s AD to fund the rebuilding of Rome following the civil wars of 69 and the destruction of the Capitoline temple by fire. The Spes type — Hope personified — carried deliberate political weight after four emperors in a single year had shattered confidence in the principate. Vespasian needed the coinage to do ideological work, and he used it accordingly.

RIC II.1 884 is a fairly well-documented issue from the Roman mint, datable to 76 AD within Vespasian's reign by tribunician power numbering on the obverse legend.