Roman Imperial: Vespasian (AD 69-79). AV aureus (19mm, 7.12 gm, 1h). NGC Choice VF 5/5 - 4/5, Fine Style....

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Temple of Vesta

Vespasian (AD 69-79). AV aureus (19mm, 7.12 gm, 1h). NGC Choice VF 5/5 - 4/5, Fine Style. Rome, AD 73. IMP CAES-VESP AVG CEN, laureate head of Vespasian right / VES-TA, round temple-shrine of Vesta with four columns and flight of steps leading up to the central tondo; statue of Vesta within, statue (Securitas?) with right hand on head, left hand on hip, on base to left, statue (Pax?) with branch downward in right hand, scepter in left, on base to right. Calicó 691. RIC II.1, 549. Handsome and Fine Style die artistry.

The reverse depicts the circular Temple of Vesta in the Roman Forum, a portion of which survives today. The round floor plan with the conical roof were probably reminders of the round huts in which denizens of Rome first lived. At the center of the temple was the Sacred Fire of Vesta, tended by the order of Vestal Virgins. Over nine centuries, the shrine was destroyed and rebuilt several times. The version seen here was rededicated by Vespasian after the Augustan temple had been damaged in the Great Fire of AD 64.

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