Numismatica Ars Classica Zurich

Auction 84/1b  –  21 May 2015

Numismatica Ars Classica Zurich, Auction 84/1b

Greek, Roman and Byzantine Coins

Th, 21.05.2015, from 11:00 AM CEST
The auction is closed.

Description

The Roman Empire Vespasian, 69 – 79 Aureus, Ephesus 72-73, AV 7.29 g. IMP CAESAR VESPAS AVG COS IIII TR P P P Laureate head r.; below, annulet. Rev. PACI·ORB – TERR·AVG Diademed, draped and turreted bust of Pax r. C –, cf. 294 (COS III and PAX bust l.). BMC –, cf. p. 96, note (COS III and PAX bust l.). RIC –. CBN . Calicó 657 var. (COS III). An apparently unrecorded variety of an exceedingly rare type. An issue of great interest and fascination, minor marks, otherwise good very fine / about extremely fine Ever since they inherited the Pergamene Kingdom in 133 B.C. the Romans had taken a high-level interest in the affairs of Asia Minor. Even the belligerence of the Pontic King Mithradates VI in the late 2nd and early 1st centuries B.C. did not deter them, despite the unspeakable atrocities he committed.One visible sign of Roman involvement was the issuance of coinage. In addition to the many thousands of provincial bronzes struck for the cities of Asia Minor, there were silver coinages – sometimes significant – from a few of the larger mints in the region. Some of these skirted the line between imperial and provincial, such as cistophori and the coins of Caesarea in Cappadocia. Other precious metal coins struck in the region were strictly imperial, including this Vespasian aureus from Ephesus.From A.D. 69 to the mid-70s, Ephesus produced a continual flow of denarii to meet regional needs. This may have been prompted by a dearth of the usual currency, cistophori, the most recent issues of which had been struck under Augustus and Claudius. Cistophorus production would not resume on any kind of scale until the reign of Titus, a decade after this aureus was struck, and the aurei and denarii of Ephesus no doubt were needed to fill the gap.Though struck on a significantly smaller scale than the main issues of Rome, Flavian denarii of Ephesus were produced in large quantities. The same cannot be said of Ephesian aurei, which are exceedingly rare. In their thorough update to the Flavian portion of RIC, Carradice and Buttrey could locate only four Flavian aurei of the Ephesus mint – two of Vespasian, and two of Titus. The present coin – being the gold component to the denarius RIC 1423 – now counts as the fifth.The reverse, inscribed PACI ORB TERR AVG, celebrates the peace that Vespasian had brought to most of the Roman world by concluding the Roman civil war and the Jewish War. Carradice and Buttrey describe the turreted female head as a personification of the world, to which Vespasian had brought peace.

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Price realized 65'000 CHF
Starting price 16'000 CHF
Estimate 20'000 CHF
The auction is closed.
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