Judaea Capta Rarity – Second Known

Triton XVIII, Lot: 1050. Estimate $15000. Sold for $37500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Vespasian. AD 69-79. AV Aureus (19mm, 7.04 g, 6h). “Judaea Capta” commemorative. Uncertain mint. Struck circa AD 69-70. IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG, laureate head right / IVDΛEΛ CΛPTΛ, palm tree; to right, Jewess, in attitude of mourning, seated right; shield to right; helmet, shield, and spear to left of palm. RIC II 1357 = Calicó 646a = BMCRE, p. 7, * and note corr. (Jewess described as sitting at foot of trophy) = Santamaria (25 May 1926), lot 236 (same dies); Hendin –; BN –; Biaggi –. Good Fine. Extremely rare, the second known. This piece confirms the authenticity of the previously known example. Future Hendin plate coin.

Citing the singular Santamaria specimen as the only example of the type then known, the authors of BMCRE expressed doubt about its authenticity. This doubt was noted by the authors of the revised RIC volume, who went further, calling it “possibly a modern forgery with rev based on bronze IVDAEA CAPTA types.” None of the authors, however, detailed any specific criteria to support their allegations, or even noted that they examined the piece in hand. Nonetheless, the present coin, struck from the same dies as the Santamaria piece, is clearly authentic, thus rendering the doubts of the authors of RIC and BMCRE moot. This coin will be illustrated in the forthcoming 6th edition of David Hendin’s Guide to Biblical Coins.