Titus AR Denarius. British Victory Issue

Description

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This denarius commemorates Agricola’s victory in Britain at the river Tay, for which Titus was proclaimed imperator for the fifteenth time.

Details

Titus AR Denarius. Rome. Struck 1 January-30 June AD 80

Obverse: IMP TITVS CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M, laureate head right

Reverse: TR P IX IMP XV COS VIII P P, trophy of arms, at base of which Britannia seated to left in attitude of mourning, and bound British captive seated to right.

RIC II 102; BMCRE 37; RSC 306. 3.44g, 18mm, 7h.

Extremely Fine. Rare.

Provenance

1. Ex. David Robinson collection
2. Ex. Roma Numismatics Auction XVIII lot 1124. 29 September, 2019
3. Ex. Dr. Nicholas Lowe Collection
4. Ex. Aes Rude (San Marino), Monete & Medaglie 16, 9 April 1994, lot 211

Notes

Hendin described this type as a “Judaea Capta” coin that celebrated the victories over Judaea between 70 and 73AD. This is unlikely to be correct. Apart from the fact that:

1. the shields on Titus’s coin are Celtic,
2. the reverse mimics a coin of Julius Caesar celebrating victory over the Gauls, and
3. the reverse isn’t used on any coins that do say Judaea on them,

Titus minted a number of coins from 79 AD to 81 AD that explicitly said Judaea on them. It would be nonsensical for him to then mint coins referring to the same event but without mentioning Judaea or using any of the traditional Judaea Capture iconography. Vespasian and Titus were very explicit on their coins about their subjugation of the Jews, and these have nothing on them to suggest they are related to that.

Jane M. Cody discusses this in more detail in “Conquerors and Conquered on Flavian Coins” (p111). David Sears (in “Roman Coins and Their Values 1”) also suggested that they could be related to Britain (Sears 2511).