RIC 1571 Vespasian Mule

Æ Quadrans, 2.71g
Rome mint, 74 AD
Obv: IMP VESP AVG; Head of Vespasian, laureate, l.
Rev: VESP•PON•TR•P; Winged caduceus
RIC 1571 (R2). BMC -. BNC -. RPC 1990 (0 spec.).
Acquired from Variana Coins, February 2023.

A mule from the Rome mint's 'Eastern series' combining a Vespasian obverse with a reverse intended for Titus Caesar (Note 'VESP' occurs in both the obverse and reverse legends!). Although very rare, a Sufficient number of these mules survived antiquity to warrant its own RIC catalogue number. Traditionally the issue has been attributed to various Eastern mints, however, recent scholarship has shown that it was produced in Rome. Style, die axis, metal, and circulation pattern all point to a Western coinage. The Rome mint caduceus design supports this as well. T. Buttrey in the RIC II.1 Addenda wrote: 'There is nothing like this series in the whole of Roman imperial coinage. It is a deliberate act of Orientalism, imposing the flavour of the East on a Western coinage'.