Titus AR Denarius 80 CE (January 1-June 30)

Titus, 79 - 81 n. Chr. Denar (2.96g). 80 n. Chr. Mzst. Rom.

Obv.: IMP TITVS CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M, Kopf mit Lorbeerkranz n. l.

Rev.: TR P IX IMP XV COS VIII P P, zwei Gefangene sitzen Rücken an Rücken an einem Tropaeum.

RIC 103 (R2); C. 306; BMC 37; BN 34. Ex Sammlung Shlomo Moussaieff, London, 1948 - 2000. Condition: Dunkle Tönung, partiell Auflagen, ss

Ex: Gorny und Mosch e-auction 263 - 07.03.2019 10: Lot 3615

This coin is darkly toned but is still in fairly nice condition. Condition was not why I bought this however. I really liked the reverse. Although some refer to this as a Judea Capta reverse, it more likely commemorates a victory in Britain by the Roman general Agricola. In a sense then it is a Britannia Capta and not a Judea Capta.

The other reason I wanted this one is that is is fairly elusive. RIC marks it it as R2 (very few example known). The reason it is rare is the left facing portrait. The right facing portrait version is a common coin. There is another R2 version of this coin (RIC 105), that switches the positions of the male and female captives on the reverse.

I was happy to win this one and it shall be an important addition to my 12 Caesars collection. One final thing to mention, this coin was part an an important collection of a well known collector. It was part of the Shlomo Moussaieff collection. He was an important collector and a fascinating character. This coin will have a good home in my collection.