Titus. AD 79-81. AR Denarius (18mm, 3.46 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck January-June AD 80. IMP TITVS CAES V[E]SPASIAN AVG P M, laureate head right / TR P IX IMP XV COS VIII P P, wreath above curule chair. RIC II 108; BMCRE 66-9; RSC 318; BN 53. Near EF, lightly toned with some underlying luster, minor obverse die cud.
The first six months of AD 80 saw a substantial output of coins, including a number of types depicting sacred chairs of the gods (pulvinaria). While Mattingly (BMCRE II, pp. lxxii–lxxiii) thought these to be struck in association with prayers voted by the Senate following the destruction of Herculaneum and Pompeii in the wake of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, Carradice and Buttrey (RIC II, p. 186) find trouble with this explanation, partly based on the inclusion in this series of a curule chair, which is “...symbolic of high Roman magistracy rather than divinity.” They suggest the impetus for the types could have been the inauguration of the Colosseum, “...at which such seats for ‘honored guests’ would be provided.”
