Flower or Grain Ears?

Triton XVI, Lot: 1068. Estimate $20000. Sold for $20000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Titus. AD 79-81. AV Aureus (20mm, 7.25 g, 5h). Rome mint. Struck AD 79. IMP TITVS CΛES VESPΛSIΛN ΛVG P M, laureate head right / TR P VIIII IMP XIIII COS VII P P, quadriga left, containing three grain ears; car decorated with garland. RIC II 24; Calicó 762; BMCRE 16; BN 13-14. Good VF, underlying luster.

This reverse type is quite difficult to interpret. Struck on aurei and denarii of Titus during AD 79, the triumphal quadriga is conspicuously devoid of the victorious imperator; instead, an uncertain object takes his place. The new edition of RIC describes the object appearing on those issues struck under Vespasian as a flower, but on similar issues of Titus, it calls the object grain ears. Since this reverse type was meant only for Titus, and it covered his transition from Caesar to Augustus (as did several of Titus’ other early issues), it is unusual that two different objects were employed. If the object is a flower, the association would be then to Spes, whose attribute was a flower. Spes, however, was normally depicted as a personification; the final issues of Vespasian (including those struck for his sons) do not include Spes as a type anywhere else. If, on the other hand, the object is grain ears, the association would be to Annona or Ceres. Both of these are included as types of both the final issues of Vespasian and the initial issues of Titus. In a period when supplying grain to the city of Rome was crucial to the political health of an emperor, it is quite possible that Titus’ administrative acumen kept the grain supply open and running smoothly. It is also possible that the object is a reference to Bonus Eventus. His attributes were the poppy and grain ears. Coins featuring him were issued during AD 69, and a denarius of Titus, dated by RIC to AD 79-80 (RIC II 89) shows the god himself. Given the turmoil surrounding the rise of the Flavians to imperial power, a smooth dynastic succession in the person of Vespasian’s capable elder son would have provided a good outcome and a triumph over the dark days of civil war.