RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Vespasian 1157 Dupondius

Monetary Context and the Flavian Base-Metal Reform

Following the violent collapse of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and the devastating civil conflicts of the Year of the Four Emperors (AD 68 to 69), the Roman monetary system faced severe regional disruptions and diminished reserves. Upon consolidating undisputed power, Vespasian initiated an extensive reconstruction of imperial administration and fiscal authority. Base-metal denominations, specifically the sestertius, dupondius, as, and semis, were essential to the everyday urban commerce of the empire and the local market transactions of legions stationed along the imperial borders. The dupondius, valued at two asses (one eighth of a denarius), functioned as a crucial intermediate denomination. While the central mint at Rome struck copious quantities of aes coinage, logistical necessity demanded the reactivation of a primary western mint to supply the vast military zone of the Rhine and Britannia as well as the civilian communities of Gaul. Under this administrative framework, the striking of dupondii at Lugdunum in AD 71 formed part of a coordinated monetary policy designed to inject high-value base-metal money into regional circulation, affirming the economic presence and fiscal reach of the fledgling Flavian state.

Lugdunum Mint Operation and Striking Characteristics

The workshop responsible for RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Vespasian 1157 was located at Lugdunum, an established administrative capital possessing a long tradition of imperial coin production going back to Augustus. During the early 70s AD, the Lugdunum mint operated at high capacity, producing immense volumes of bronze and orichalcum coinage that exhibited marked regional stylistic unity. Numismatists distinguish Lugdunum aes issues from their Roman counterparts through both epigraphic style and distinctive die markers. The most famous diagnostic element of the Lugdunum workshop is the placement of a diminutive globe at the point of the truncation of the neck on the obverse portrait. Engravers at Lugdunum utilized robust, deeply engraved dies with letterforms that tend to be slightly broader and less elongated than contemporary Roman dies. While dupondii struck at Rome were traditionally cast in brass (orichalcum) to distinguish them from the pure copper of the as, western mint products occasionally incorporated variable ternary copper alloys. Weight standards for Flavian dupondii typically centered around 12 to 14 grams with diameters between 27 and 30 millimeters, although natural variation in manual flan preparation yielded a standard distribution across the surviving population.

Obverse Portraiture and Iconography

The obverse of this catalogue type presents a radiate head of Vespasian facing right. The radiate crown serves as a primary denomination indicator, a convention inaugurated during the Neronian currency reforms to ensure immediate visual differentiation between the dupondius and the similarly sized copper as, which bore a laureate or bare head. The portrait reflects the pronounced veristic style characteristic of Flavian dynastic imagery, presenting the emperor with mature, rugged features, a heavy jawline, prominent brow, and furrowed forehead, pointedly breaking from the idealized court portraiture of the late Julio-Claudians. Positioned neatly at the lowest point of the neck truncation is the small globe, the diagnostic mint signature confirming its attribution to Lugdunum. The die execution captures an air of seasoned military authority, portraying the commander who secured peace through veteran discipline and pragmatic rule.

Reverse Iconography and Symbolism

The reverse iconography depicts the personification of Securitas (Security), draped and seated facing right. Her right arm is raised and bent, allowing her hand to support her head in an established visual trope denoting profound tranquility, ease, and total absence of anxiety or immediate danger. In her left hand, she holds a long sceptre transverse or resting against her lap, symbolizing imperial oversight and protective sovereignty. Positioned in the field to the left is a lighted altar alongside a torch. The altar indicates ongoing religious piety and state sacrifice, linking the preservation of civic peace directly to the favor of the gods, while the torch serves as an attribute often associated with nocturnal vigilance, peaceful slumber, and domestic security. Flanking the seated figure is the formulaic inscription S C, indicating Senatus Consulto, the traditional legal formula asserting that the base-metal issue was struck by decree of the Roman Senate, harmonizing provincial military coin production with the ancestral constitutional framework of Rome.

Epigraphy and Legend Variations

The obverse inscription reads IMP CAESAR VESPASIAN AVG COS IIII, displaying the standard sequence of imperial nomenclature: Imperator (proclaiming supreme military command), Caesar (affirming the dynastic succession), Vespasianus (the personal cognomen), and Augustus (the supreme civil and religious honorific). The terminal consulship titulature, recorded here as COS IIII, places the formal formulation within the fifth consulship sequence or its designative anticipation during AD 71 to 72, reflecting administrative records of the Lugdunum mint. The reverse inscription reads SECVRITAS AVGVSTI, translating as 'The Security of the Augustus.' This imperial virtue proclamation functioned as ideological messaging directed toward soldiers and civilians alike, communicating that under the new princeps, the traumatic civil anarchy of recent memory had been replaced by stability and enduring safety. The senatorial acronym S C occupies the lower field or flanks the personification, validating the issue according to standard imperial numismatic formula.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the updated corpus of Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC II, Part 1, second edition), this specific issue is catalogued under number 1157. Earlier classifications, including the first edition of RIC and BMC Volume II, categorized these western Flavian bronze emissions under regional groupings or assigned them broadly to Gaul. The modern revision by Ian Carradice and Theodore V. Buttrey firmly consolidated these diagnostic globe-neck issues under the mint of Lugdunum and refined their internal sequence. Struck during AD 71 within an extensive multi-denomination emission, RIC 1157 belongs to a thematic cohort celebrating foundational virtues of peace, abundance, and military loyalty, accompanied by companion reverse types such as Pax, Victoria, and Fides Publica. The exact pairing of the radiate portrait with the globe at the neck truncation and the seated Securitas reverse with an altar and torch isolates RIC 1157 as an individual catalogue entity within the broader spectrum of Flavian dupondii.

Circulation Patterns and Archaeological Evidence

Archaeological excavations and regional hoards across Western Europe demonstrate that the Lugdunum bronze issues of AD 71 formed the backbone of the circulating medium throughout the northwestern provinces for decades. Flavian dupondii produced in Lugdunum occur extensively in archaeological strata across Gaul, Germania Superior, Germania Inferior, and Britannia. Excavations at military fortresses along the Rhine and across Roman Britain, such as Vindonissa, Novaesium, Camulodunum, and Eburacum, regularly yield worn examples of these globe-marked dupondii, showing persistent circulation well into the reigns of Domitian, Trajan, and Hadrian. Because western provincial markets suffered chronic shortages of base metal prior to the 70s AD, this Lugdunum emission satisfied substantial commercial demand. The dupondius saw heavy transactional use in military stipend payouts, local provisioning, and civic taxation, as attested by the extensive wear and countermarking frequently observed on long-surviving specimens recovered from river deposits and urban contexts.

References

1. Catalogue des monnaies de l'Empire romain, II: De Vespasien à Domitien. Lugdunum, AD 71-72
2. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume II: Vespasian to Domitian. pp. 197-205
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Vespasian 1157. ric.2_1(2).ves.1157
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume II, Part 1: Vespasian to Domitian (AD 69-96). p. 153, no. 1157