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!
Sestertius - Vespasian S P Q R ADSERTORI LIBERTATIS PVBLIC
| Issuer | Roman Imperial Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 71 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| 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) | RIC II.1#207, OCRE#ric.2_1(2).ves.207 |
| Obverse description | Laureate bust of Emperor Vespasian facing right, draped at the shoulder, rendered with the characteristic realistic portraiture of the Flavian period, conveying the emperor's mature, stocky features. The effigy occupies the central field, modelled in high relief with close-cropped hair beneath a laurel wreath. A continuous circular legend in Latin capitals runs along the rim, recording the emperor's full titulature. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
This sestertius was struck in the immediate aftermath of the civil war of 69 AD — the Year of the Four Emperors — when Vespasian's propagandists were working hard to frame his victory not as a military coup but as a liberation of the Roman people from tyranny. The legend ADSERTORI LIBERTATIS PVBLICAE, "to the asserter of public liberty," was a deliberate piece of ideological positioning, casting Vespasian in the mold of a republican restorer rather than a strongman who had simply outlasted his rivals. The Senate, freshly humiliated by Vitellius, was a willing audience.
RIC II.1 #207 places this among the early Roman mint output of 71 AD, the first full year of Vespasian's consolidation.