Titus as Caesar, AD 69-79. Silver denarius, Ephesus mint, struck under Vespasian

Titus as Caesar, AD 69-79. Silver denarius, Ephesus mint, struck under Vespasian in AD 74; 19 mm, 3.25 g, die axis 12 h. IMP T CAESAR COS III – laureate head of Titus right ▸ CONCORDIA AVG – Ceres (Concordia?) seated left on a high, ornamented throne, holding poppy-seed-head and two ears of grain in her extended right hand, cornucopia cradled in left; small annulet beneath throne, star in exergue. RIC 1468; BMC 477; RPC II 856; Cohen –. Rare issue from Ephesus (star and annulet control marks). Light silver-grey toning, crisply struck portrait.

Struck while Titus was still crown prince and commander of the Judaean War, the type projects domestic harmony in the wake of civil conflict: Concordia/Ceres symbolises the grain supply restored after the upheavals of 69 AD, while the star in exergue is generally read as an allusion to the comet that heralded Vespasian’s rise. Eastern denarii of this series are struck from notably fine silver and are scarcer than their Rome-mint counterparts, making this specimen an attractive representative of the Flavian fiscal and ideological renewal.