Vespasian AE As (PAX AVGVSTI, RIC II.1 312)

VESPASIAN, AD 69-79
AE As (29.2mm, 11.78g, 6h)
Struck AD 71. Rome mint
Obverse: IMP CAES VESPASIAN AVG COS III, laureate head of Vespasian right
Reverse: P-AX AVGVSTI, Pax, draped, standing left, holding branch in right hand and cornucopia in left; S C in fields
References: RIC II.1 312 (R3, same dies); RCV – ; ERIC II – .

Green-brown patina with scattered encrustations. An extremely rare type, apparently the second known after the RIC plate coin (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford), and struck from the same dies. Incidentally, this coin confirms the reverse legend given in RIC, which, owing to the worn condition and off-center strike of the Ashmolean specimen, was initially only a supposition.

Collection : Roman Imperial - the Flavians