• Finest Quality Ancient Greek, Roman & Byzantine Coins
  • Renaissance & 17th Century Dutch Medals
  • Auctions & Private Treaty Sales

Nomos 16

10 May 2018
Zunfthaus zur Saffran, Zürich
overview
Estimate: 600 CHF
Hammer Price:  900 CHF
Lot 168

Vespasian, 69-79. As (Bronze, 26 mm, 10.00 g, 7 h), Rome, 71. IMP CAES VESPASIAN AVG COS III Laureate head of Vespasian to right. Rev. FIDES [PVL]BICA (sic!) / S-C Clasped hands holding caduceus and two grain ears. Cf. BMC p. 130, ‡ (referring to C. 169), BN 579, Cohen 169, and RIC 300 (all with the correct PVBLICA). Rare. An interesting coin, with an unusual spelling mistake on the reverse. Attractive, glossy green patina with some reddish-brown showing through. Reverse struck slightly off centre, otherwise, extremely fine.



Roman Imperial coins rarely have mistakes in their legends; at least, in most instances mistakes would be caught at the mint and the offending coin would be held back and melted down (of course, the die would also either be recut or destroyed). Even though the reverse of this coin is off center, what can be read clearly shows that the die cutter mistakenly transposed the B and L of PVBLICA when he engraved the legend; we can see what is undoubtedly BICA on the right side meaning that the missing three letters would be PVL.

Online bidding closes: 10 May 2018, 05:00:00 CEST Current Date & Time: 28 Mar 2024, 09:44:01 CET Remaining Time: Closed Hammer Price:900 CHF

Pre-Bidding closes on 10 Mai 2018 at 5:00 CEST. Live bidding starts at 14:00 CET and is EXCLUSIVELY available on biddr. Separate registration is required.

An error has occurred. This application may no longer respond until reloaded. Reload 🗙
Reconnecting, please wait...