Ancient Roman Imperial Coins - Unique Vitellius / Vespasian - Mule AR Denarius

Ancient Roman Imperial Coins - Unique Vitellius / Vespasian - Mule AR Denarius
69 A.D.. Obv: IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG anti-clockwise, laureate bust of Vespasian facing right. Rev: known Vitellius reverse die, XV VIR SACR FAC, tripod-lebes; dolphin above, raven below. The reverse die (RIC 86; BMCRE 17; RSC 114) used is exactly the same ‘long dolphin's tail’ die used on a Vitellius coin sold by Spink (Auction 23105, no.6217, 30 Jan 2023). Comparing the positions of the various letters in relation to the main image, one can see that they are from the same die. (There are dozens of different reverse dies, but this is the only one with the detailed characteristics of this coin.) So one would say this was struck right at the beginning of Vespasian's reign, either as a test strike, or perhaps it is simply a mule, struck using the Vitellius die in error. There are no such examples in BMCRE, RIC, or any of the large collections including the ANS or CoinArchivesPro. See wildwinds.com for an academic listing of this coin. 2.35 grams, 23 mm. .

Found in Bawdswell, Norfolk, UK, on 21st August 2021.

Dane Kurth, administrator of the award winning site wildwinds.com writes: ‘The reverse legend does not apply to Vespasian. XV VIR SACR FAC is the abbreviation of 'Quindecimvir Sacris Faciundis' = (Member of the) College of the fifteen priests in charge of the sacred, sibylline books, which Vespasian was not. Because Vespasian's elevation to the title of emperor occurred immediately after the fall of Vitellius (actually Vespasian was hailed as emperor when he was out of the country when Vitellius was still emperor), we can only presume that the mints needed to hurry to get coinage of Vespasian out, so, having engraved obverse dies, they possibly used the old Vitellius reverse die as test strikes. Supporting this is the fact that the Vespasian legend on the obverse is not dated by the use of any TR P or COS numbers, so was very likely struck early in his reign.' [No Reserve]