GOLDEN

Issue: AD 69-70,  D/ IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG, laureate d.  R/ COS ITER TR POT, the Pax seated at s. with olive branch in the d. and caduceus in the s., Mint of Rome/Tarraco, Bibl. ref. R.I.C., 1311; Cohen -, Calico 607;  Metal: AV, gr. 7.36, Dia.: mm. 19.10. mBB.

PROVENANCE
Bolaffi, Turin;
private collection, Rome.

Below are two extracts from the "Appraiser Appendix to the Bolaffi Quality Certificate" no. 238 of 26/05/2020" attached to this lot:


… Since Vespasian was proclaimed Emperor by the Senate in 69 AD, while he was in Palestine in command of the troops who were facing the rebellion of the Jews, the effigies that appear on his first coin issues are often different, and sometimes even very different, from those following. This depends on the fact that the engravers of the cones did not have it available to reproduce its real features until the late spring of 70 AD. and furthermore, as Vespasian had spent most of his military career outside Rome, his face was not publicly known in the city. Often therefore, on its first issues,  Vespasian seems to resemble Vitellius or even Galba, models that the engravers had at their disposal. This is not the case with this specimen, in which the effigy of Vespasian begins to have its own specific features, very similar to those that appear on the coins issued in subsequent years. From the comment on the reverse it appears that the coin can be dated to the first half of 70 AD, but the effigy that appears on the obverse allows us to suppose that the issue period could even be restricted to only the months of May and June, after the arrival of Vespasian in Rome. …


… From the legend we learn that at the moment of minting of this coin Vespasian was in his second Consulate, which was attributed to him in 70 AD. after a first attribution which took place in the now distant 51 AD, and in its first Tribunate of the Plebs, which instead concerns the period 1 July 69 - 30 June 70 AD. C., as the historical sources attest in both cases. This means that the coin can certainly be dated to the first half of 70 AD, but the characteristics of Vespasian's portrait allow us to indicate an even more precise date, limited to the months of May and June of 70 AD. as better explained in the commentary on the law.
As regards the representation, it represents the Pax according to the canons of the Roman tradition. which included a seated female figure, as in this case, or standing, associated with various attributes, including in particular the olive branch, which is a symbol of peace even today. The caduceus, a typical attribute of Mercury, in the Roman tradition the deity who protected merchants, symbolizes the benefits that peace brings to commercial activities.
Although in the Roman conception war was the normal condition of existence, peace was held in great consideration, as it was perceived as a reward for war, obviously always victorious, and a gift from the gods. Therefore it appears with a certain frequency on the reverses of Roman coins, in various forms, but with a common characteristic: the generic nature of its meaning. Unlike the Victoria, often accompanied by epithets in the legend or by representations, which clearly specify which people were defeated, the Pax is never connected to the particular war of which it represents the conclusion: this derives from the fact that Rome never negotiated peace with the defeated enemy, it simply granted it on standard conditions, equal for all peoples. …

The present lot cannot be exported from Italy.