Titus AR Denarius 80 CE January 1-June 30

TITUS Auguste (79-81), AR denier, 80, Rome.

3,23g.

Obv: IMP TITVS CAES VESPASIAN AVG PM· T. l. à d.

Rev: TR P IX IMP XV- COS VIII PP Siège carré dr., avec un dossier triangulaire, décoré de cinq palmettes. BMC 233, 61; RIC 124A.

Beau à Très Beau/Beau (Fine - Very Fine/Fine)

Purchased from Jean Elsen ltd; April 18, 2019

This coin is catalogued in RIC as 124. 124 is a common denarius. However it has a number of variations that are anything but common. First there are 3 variations by the number of palmettes on the triangular frame. You can find 5, 3, or 9 palmettes. These are in the RIC plates as 124a, 124b, and 124c. However, this is not where the variations end for this type.

Take a close look at the triangular frame. Underneath you can see an item. It is a lituus, an item used in augury. This religious symbolism occurs rarely on coins of this type. I have the lituus type for 124c and now I have the lituus version for the five palmette type, 124a. This type has been assigned its own unique RIC number for the upcoming addenda. It will be RIC 124A.

Who in their right mind counts the palmettes on triangular frames to find rare variants? I do. I actually enjoy tracking these down. It gives me a reason to spend more time with my reference books and that is very enjoyable for me. I love looking at my collection and thing about how I tracked down each of my coins.