438, Lot: 492. Estimate $300. Sold for $240. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Vespasian. AD 69-79. Æ Dupondius (27.5mm, 15.03 g, 7h). Rome mint. Struck AD 71. Radiate head right / Roma seated left on cuirass, holding wreath and parazonium; shield set on ground to right. RIC II 279, note⁶⁸. Good VF, attractive, hard green patina.

The note in RIC says: “Coupled with this rev is an obv reading COS II (e.g., Baranowsky list 2 1997 145) – presumably an engraver’s error or a die with a weakly engraved third ‘I’.” This coin shows a very weak, but visible, first I in COS III, possibly leading some to believe it was struck with COS II.