Vespasian, 69-79. Sestertius (Orichalcum, 34 mm, 24.25 g, 6 h), Rome, 71. IMP CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M TR P P P COS III Laureate bust of Vespasian to right. Rev. IVDAEA - CAPTA / S C Palm tree; on the left, Judaea seated to left on a cuirass, resting her head on her right hand in an attitude of dejection; to left and behind her legs, a helmet and a pile of shields; on the right, male captive standing to left with his hands bound behind his back; at his feet to left, oblong shield; behind him to right, a pile of weapons. BMC -, but cf. 540-542 ( shields to right of captive ). BN 496 ( same dies ). Bromberg -. CNG 118, 2021, 1006 ( same dies -?- but tooled ). Cohen 238 var. Hendin 6532. RIC II.1 165/166 var. ( 165 has the captive standing left as here, but with shields to right; 166 has the captive standing right but with his head turned to left and weaponry to right ). Samet -. Sear 2236 var. Shoshana -. Triton V, 2002, 1915 ( same reverse die but legend given incorrectly and with a wrong Cohen reference ). Extremely rare. With a fine portrait, an attractive brown patina, and a most unusual reverse. Minor smoothing, otherwise, good very fine.

From the Collection of Prof. James M. Collier, acquired in 2006 from Numisma Mynthandel in Oslo.

What is exciting about this coin is the reverse type, which is a distinct variant of the usual Iudaea Capta. The male captive stands in a different position and the piles of arms, on both the left and the right, are unlike those found on all other sestertii of Vespasian. Interestingly enough, this reverse die was, apparently, used with two obverse dies.

This lot is sold to benefit the Collier Prize in Ancient Numismatics offered by the American Numismatic Society.