318, Lot: 635. Estimate $2000. Sold for $2000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Vespasian. AD 69-79. AV Aureus (20mm, 7.20 g, 11h). Rome mint. Struck AD 73. IMP CAES VESP AVG CENS, laureate head right / PAX AVG, Pax standing left, leaning on short column, holding caduceus over purse set on tripod in right hand, olive branch in left. RIC II 543; Calicó 660. Near VF.

An interesting syncretic type demonstrating the relationship between healthy commerce and the peace, happiness, and security of the empire. Discussing this type, struck for both Vespasian and Titus as Caesar, Mattingly (BMCRE p. xxxvi) notes: “...Pax carries not only her own olive–branch, but also the caduceus of Felicitas and the follis (purse) of Mercury, the god who gives commercial success, and leans on the column of Securitas.”