DIVUS VESPASIAN. Died 79 AD. AR Antoninianus (22mm, 4.30 gm, 1h). Commemorative issue struck under Trajan Decius, 250/1 AD. DIVO VESPASIANO, radiate head right / CONSECRATIO, lighted altar. RIC IV 80 (Trajan Decius); Hunter 7 (Reign of Trajan Decius); RSC 652. Good VF.
When Decius became emperor shortly after the millenium of Rome, he attempted to garner support by restoring the traditional Roman religion. However, by this time the old Roman pantheon was no longer in vogue. Therefore, Decius issued a series of coins commemorating the deified emperors. The list of rulers commemorated, eleven in all, falls short of the total then residing with Jupiter on Olympus, and there is no explanation as to why the series lacks such figures as the deified Julius Caesar, Claudius, Lucius Verus, Pertinax or Caracalla. To further confuse matters, the series does include one emperor who was never deified and whose appearance thus remains an enigma - Severus Alexander.
In RIC IV, Mattingly rather unconvincingly attributed the 'Divus' types struck under Decius to the mint at Milan. Via a study of die-linkage using British Museum specimens as well as examples that have appeared in various auctions over the years, K.J.J. Elks has since refuted Mattingly's attribution, placing the 'Divi' series in the last issue of Decius struck at Rome (see Reattribution of the Milan Coins of Trajan Decius to the Rome Mint, NumChron 1972, pp. 111-115 and pls. 14-15.
