Vespasian. Denarius

Vespasian; 69-79 AD, Antioch, 70 AD, Denarius, 3.08g. Cf. RIC-1539 (aureus, from the same obverse die as the new denarius. Obv: IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG Head laureate r. Rx: PONT MAX - T[RIB POT], Pax seated r. holding scepter and branch, with two lines below her seat. Ex Curtis L. Clay Collection; ex Naumann E71, 4 Nov. 2018, 449. As Curtis Clay stated in the Forum discussion group after acquiring this denarius, its reverse type seems to copy that of the tribute penny of Tiberius: both show a draped female figure seated right holding scepter and branch and with two lines below her seat, while the reverse legend was slightly expanded from PONTIF MAXIM to PONT MAX TRIB POT. A few years later the mint of Rome itself also copied the tribute penny type for both Vespasian and Titus, though substituting the seated emperor for the seated Pax, and omitting the two lines below Pax's seat, e.g. RIC pl. 4, 546.Struck with worn dies. MS