Titus sestertius - old RIC 138

[vs1969]

Got a worn Titus sestertius which has been identified by the seller as RIC 138 according to the old edition of Vol.2:

Obv. T DIVO AVG DIVI VESP F VESPASIANO. Head, laureate, l.
Rev. FELICIT PUBLIC S C Felicitas standing l. holding sceptre and cornucopiae.

I tend to agree with this attribution, despite the reverse seems to be completely worn off as the obverse
legend fits completely where visible. Will be able to tell more after seeing the coin in hand - for now I only
have seller's pictures.

What is interesting is that the RIC puts it in a "doubtful and unattributed" section for Titus where it is
supplemented with quite intriguing footnote: "A mysterious obv.: perhaps it might have been struck just after the death of Titus"

I was not able to find any other example of this type in all online coin databases I have access to.

I do not have access to the new edition of RIC Vol.2, could anybody tell me what is its new number and what is said about it there?
Maybe there are other references/publications that could be helpful to put more light on what is "mysterious" with this coin?

[FlaviusDomitianus]

It would be Domitian 129 (R2) in the new RIC, a rare issue for the deified Titus.

Me too I've offered in the auction, even though I had doubts, because the reverse is totally blank in the picture and the obverse legend has been obviously strengthened (hopefully not totally remade).

With the coin in hand you could eventually tell us if the coin looks genuine or not.

Best wishes

Alberto

[curtislclay]

Despite the footnote in the old RIC, there is nothing mysterious about your coin.

Since the obv. die calls Titus Divus, obviously it was created after Titus' death and consecration.

Domitian struck two sorts of sestertii for Divus Titus.

1. Continuations of coins that had been struck for Titus before his death.

a. Your obv. die with legend

 T DIVO AVG DIVI VESP F VESPASIANO. Attested with reverses FELICIT PVBLIC, FELICIT PVBLICA, and FELICIT AVGVST, RIC 129, 130, 128. The last two could use confirmation, to prove that they're not just FELICIT PVBLIC tooled and altered. Only one such obv. die is known in any case. Maybe it will eventually turn up coupled with other rev. types of the living Titus.

b. The Colosseum sestertius, originally struck for Titus alive, continued for Divus Titus with legend

DIVO AVG T DIVI VESP F VESPASIAN, RIC 131.

2. Proper consecration sestertii with rev. Legend of Domitian around large S C, obv. Divus Titus seated, with the same two Divus Titus legends as in 1a and 1b above, RIC 126-127.

[vs1969]

Thank you very much for your information. Will wait for the coin to arrive and then inform how it looks like - maybe something would be still recognizable on the reverse - sometimes this happens despite what is seen on the picture.

[vs1969]

The coin has finally arrived; the picture captures it very well including the color of the patina. The lettering on the obverse does not look tooled, just worn. The reverse while seen from the angle shows some standing figure which could well be Felicitas but of course nothing more detailed; it is still better than nothing.