Vespasian Denarius but light

[mwilson603]

Hi All,

I bought a single uncleaned coin the other day, and got a couple of extras thrown in.  This was one of them.  I have half cleaned it, and I think it is
Vespasian Denarius 17mm diameter. Struck 69-71 AD. IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG, laureate head right / COS ITER T-R POT, Pax seated left, holding branch and caduceus. RIC 10, BMCRE 26; RSC 94h

Is that correct?

Also, the weight seems remarkably low at 2.4g.  Sure there is some wear, but I would not have thought that much.  I cannot find any other Vespasian of this type under 3.2g.  Am I missing something?

regards

Mark

[areich]

What did you compare it with?
Your coin is VERY worn so you shouldn't compare its weight with examples from Coinarchives.

Andreas

2.7g
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/roman-and-greek-coins.asp?param=20752q00.jpg&vpar=401&zpg=19901

2.65g
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2.5g
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/roman-and-greek-coins.asp?param=20845q00.jpg&vpar=401&zpg=19982

[mwilson603]

OK, so you think 2.4g is fine for a coin in this condition?

regards

Mark

[areich]

From what I see, it looks like a genuine coin to me and looking through FORVM's catalog there are quite a few worn
ones with a weight of about 2.5g.

Even 2.3g:

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[David Atherton]

The attribution is correct and the weight poses no problems. Coins early in Vespasian's reign were often irregularly struck.

A nice freebie you got there!

[mwilson603]

Excellent, thanks All.  It was just a black lump when I looked at it, although I thought it may be Vespasian from what I could see from the shape of the head.  With some lemon juice and, believe it or not, "miracle metal cream" this appeared.

Now if only I collected Vespasians instead of Constantines