Lot 3440

Description

(Titus), from Moesia & Thrace, period of Titus (A.D. 79-81), (7.784 grams), AE 25 with countermarks of AVG, TI.CAE [Ti{tus} CAE{SAR}), P.R. (all on obverse), CAE (on reverse), on Augustus AE dupondius (cf.S.1666), (Martini No. 77, 83, 87, 90, Howgego 577, 599 and 602). Countermarks very fine, host coin poor, and very rare with all these known countermarks.

Martini notes the letters to mean TI(tus?) Cae(sar), Aug(ustus), PR (Populus Romanus) and CAE (Caesar), which are always closely associated. He further notes the issues as struck generally are Ephesian or regular coins of Augustus. Martini places the the countermarks in the period of Vespasian and Titus. It was in a Thrace-Moesia area that these countermarks were applied to circulating worn coinage. The Pangerl collection contained very few examples with all these countermarks (only one).