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RIC 0631 Titus as Caesar [Vespasian]
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Æ As, 8.13g
Rome mint, 73 AD
Obv: T CAES IMP PON TR P COS II CENS; Head of Titus, laureate, bearded, l.
Rev: PROVIDENT in exergue; S C in field; Altar
RIC 631 (R). BMC -. BNC -.
Ex Savoca Blue 145, 16 October 2022, lot 1306.
Originally, Tiberius struck the Provident altar type for Divus Augustus. The altar depicted is dedicated to Providentia, the personification of the emperor's divine providence. Although the type is commonly described as an altar, Marvin Tameanko has convincingly argued it is actually a sacellum, or small shrine. Vespasian began striking it early in his reign both at Rome and Lyon, confining the type to the as issues. Nathan T. Elkins in his Monuments in Miniature wrote the following concerning the type - 'Asses with an altar enclosure labeled PROVIDENT, combine with obverses of Vespasian or his sons, are the emperor's most common architectural type and were produced from c. 71 to 78. The Ara Providentiae, which had appeared before on coins of Tiberius, Galba, and Vitellius, celebrated the emperor's foresight in the designation of his successors. The combination of the reverse type with obverses of one of the two Caesars further underscored the dynastic message.' This PROVIDENT from 73 features the less common left facing portrait of Titus Caesar. Missing from both the BM and Paris collections.
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