Vespasian Diobol 70-71 CE

Egypt, Alexandria. Dattari. Vespasian, 69-79 Diobol circa 70-71 (year 3), Æ

( 26.5mm., 9.15g.)

Obv: Laureate head r.

Rev. Bust of Isis r.; in front, LΓ. RPC 2430 (this coin cited). Dattari-Savio Pl. 14, 382 (this coin). Brown tone. Very Fine. From the Dattari collection. Naville Numismatics Auction #30, Lot 283, April 02, 2017.

Coin depicted in the Wildwinds.com database.

What attracted me to this coin was the bust of ISIS on the reverse. This is just one of the many interesting reverses that appears on the Roman coins of Alexandria.

Another reason this coin was interesting was the provenance. It was a part of the famous Dattari collection of Egyptian coins. Dattari assembled one the most complete collections of Roman-Egyptian coins ever known. In the last several decades quite of number of coins from this collection have come to market. In the last year alone there have been several auctions featuring Ex Dattari coins. These have been very popular with collectors.

I do not buy coins just for provenance, however. In this case I really liked the look of the coin. A nice grumpy looking bust and a culturally significant figure on the reverse were enough to convince me to buy this coin. There was another fact about this coin which led to my purchase. This coin is plate coin. It is the coin depicted in a published collection of Ex Dattari coins. This coin was also cited by Roman Provincial Coins, and is on the Wilwinds.com database.

In short, there are many reasons to like this coin. What might appear at first glance to be a rather rough looking coin is far more interesting than mere appearance might suggest. This is one of just 3 bronze coins I currently own. All the rest of my posted coins are silver. A bronze coin has to be special to make it into my collection.