Just a couple Flavian denarii

[CPK]

Hope everyone is doing well this weekend. Here in the midwestern US we've had an unusual amount of snow and ice the past week, which has made the landscape look beautiful, and been lots of fun for the children (oldest had off from school twice this week.) But it also makes the roads extremely treacherous, and living as we do on a rural dirt road, our mail delivery has been rather spotty. I've got quite a few coins and other things backed up and waiting to arrive, whenever things start melting a bit...

But anyway, in the meantime, here are a couple other fairly recent auction wins, neither one a show-stopper but each interesting in its own way. First up is a denarius of Titus as Caesar under Vespasian. This one is interesting partly for the great (expressive!) portrait of Titus, but also because it appears to retain much of its original "find" patina, looking more like it would have as it came out of the ground after nearly 2,000 years. I also like the reverse type, not a rare one but also not the most common one around.

TITUS as Caesar, AD 69-79
AR Denarius (17.88mm, 2.84g, 6h)
Struck AD 77-78. Rome mint
Obverse: T CAESAR IMP VESPASIANVS, laureate head of Titus right
Reverse: COS VI, Mars standing left, holding spear and trophy
References: RIC II 948; RCV 2439 var. (no corn-ear); ERIC II 174
Remnants of find patina. An excellent and expressive portrait of Titus.

 

Second, an interesting plated "fourrée" denarius of Domitian, struck circa 88/9, around the middle of his reign. I normally don't go in much for fourrées (correct plural?) but this one caught my eye because it is an unusual hybrid type, combining a denarius obverse with an aureus reverse type. I did find one other specimen in the archives, another fourrée and a reverse die match. I have to admit, when I first won this coin my feelings were mixed and I kind of regretted it; but since then I've come to like it more and I'm glad to have it in my collection.

DOMITIAN, AD 81-96
Plated "Fourrée" Denarius (18.20mm, 2.77g, 6h)
Struck circa AD 88/9. Copy of Rome mint
Obverse: IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM P M TR P VIII, laureate head of Domitian right
Reverse: GERMANICVS COS XIIII, Minerva standing left, holding thunderbolt in right hand and vertical spear in left
References: Obverse copies denarius types from RIC II 596 to 677; reverse copies an aureus type (558). See Jesús Vico 18, lot 272 (same rev. die)
A rare and interesting ancient "hybrid" counterfeit, combining an aureus reverse type with a denarius obverse.

 

Thanks for looking! Feel free to post any coins or comments you think appropriate. 🙂 

[David Atherton]

The portrait on the Titus is a fine example of classic Flavian portraiture. And I didn't realise you were collecting fourrées. You don't often see plated Domitianic denarii ... I imagine he didn't take kindly to forgers!

Edited January 11 by David Atherton

[CPK]

1 hour ago, David Atherton said:

The portrait on the Titus is a fine example of classic Flavian portraiture. And I didn't realise you were collecting fourrées. You don't often see plated Domitianic denarii ... I imagine he didn't take kindly to forgers!

Thanks! I don't really collect fourrées, but this one seemed too interesting to pass up. 😉 

[Roman Collector]

What an artistic portrait of Titus! Great pick-up!! 

[CPK]

33 minutes ago, Roman Collector said:

What an artistic portrait of Titus! Great pick-up!! 

Thanks Roman Collector!

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

I like original patinas and it helps contrast the fine portrait of Titus.  Some interesting additions!

[CPK]

8 hours ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said:

I like original patinas and it helps contrast the fine portrait of Titus.  Some interesting additions!

Thanks Nero! I agree, it gives it a nice contrast.

[panzerman]

Nice additions CPK! I am still looking for Titus for my collection.

Here we have hardly any snow/ but its mighty cold -18. Looking like another bad sledding season.

 

John

[Coinmaster]

Very nice. Congrats with these nice coins/stories!

Here in The Netherlands, we have some snow and icy weather, but it's nothing compared to what you're experiencing. Yesterday, I was watching the news on TV about the big fires on the east coast of the US. What a strange contrast that is to your snowy environment. I'm sure it's quite a distance away.

[CPK]

5 hours ago, panzerman said:

Nice additions CPK! I am still looking for Titus for my collection.

Here we have hardly any snow/ but its mighty cold -18. Looking like another bad sledding season.

 

John

Thanks John! I'm sure you all have it colder, way up north. 😉 Today has been warmer and things are starting to melt now.

 

3 hours ago, Coinmaster said:

Very nice. Congrats with these nice coins/stories!

Here in The Netherlands, we have some snow and icy weather, but it's nothing compared to what you're experiencing. Yesterday, I was watching the news on TV about the big fires on the east coast of the US. What a strange contrast that is to your snowy environment. I'm sure it's quite a distance away.

Thanks Coinmaster! 

Yeah it's not unusual for us to get ice and some snow...but around here (central Missouri) any snow that does fall doesn't usually stick around all that long. I had heard too about the fires, both east and west coast. Sounds pretty bad!