| Davissons, Ltd. > Auction 43 | Auction date: 20 March 2024 |
| Lot number: 129 Price realized: Unsold | Show similar lots on CoinArchives Find similar lots in upcoming auctions on  |
| Lot description: Julia Titi. Augusta, A.D. 79-90/1. Æ dupondius. 12.54 gm. 27.5 mm. Uncertain Balkan mint. Struck under Titus, circa A.D. 80-81. Her draped bust right; IVLIA IMP T AVG F AVGVSTA / Ceres standing left, holding scepter and two grain ears; CERES AVGVST S C. RIC II.1 514 pl. 116 (same dies). RPC II 509 (7 examples). H. Cahn, "An Imperial Mint in Bithynia," INJ 8 (1984-5), 9. BMCRE 255. BN 266 (Titus). Cohen 2. Very Fine; attractive green and brown patina; small area of pitting at top of head on obverse, old and fully patinated; attractive portrait; well centered and pleasing. Extremely rare. Ex Harlan Berk BBS 165 (28 July 2009) lot 454 ("The letter forms, particularly the long serifs, show that this coin belongs to the auxiliary mint for bronzes in Thrace, possibly situated at Perinthus."). Julia Titi is the daughter of the emperor Titus, who served under his father Vespasian in Judea during the First Jewish-Roman War, commanding a Roman legion that captured and destroyed Jerusalem in 70 C.E. As emperor for just two years, he is best known for completing the Colosseum and for his generosity relieving suffering caused by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 and a fire in Rome in 80. His daughter was known for her hot temper and wild nature. After her husband's death she had a scandalous affair with her uncle, the emperor Domitian. In A.D. 79 when Vespasian died and Titus became sole emperor, one of his first official acts was to raise his daughter Julia to the rank of Augusta, or Empress, the first woman in more than a decade to hold that exalted position. This rare provincial bronze presents a lovely portrait of the elusive Empress, her strong features suggesting an almost uncanny resemblance to her father. Estimate: 750 USD |  |
