Denarius of Vespasian

The silver denarius of Vespasian (Titus Flavius Vespasianus, lived 9 - 79; reign years 69-79) was minted in 77-78. It is preserved in a good condition, with images and inscriptions clearly visible on both sides. The obverse of the coin shows the right profile of the emperor, who has no facial hair and is wearing a laurel wreath. On the rim, there is the inscription TCAESARIMPVESPASIANVS. The reverse shows is a figure of the god Mars, standing straight with a spear in his right hand. In his left hand, raised upwards, he is holding a trophy in the form of a miniature of a Roman tropaion - a type of monument erected from captured weapons after a victorious battle. It consisted of a vertical pole on which a suit of armour was hung, sometimes topped with a helmet, and on its left and right sides, a shield and a spear were mounted. The coin was found in a peat bog near Buczek during lake drainage. Numerous objects from the Roman period have been discovered here since the second half of the 19th century until the 1920s. Apart from a denarius of Vespasian, a subaerate of Vespasian, a subaerate of Marcus Aurelius and three denarii of the Antonine dynasty were found here, as well as around 1800 amber beads, a somewhat smaller collection of glass beads, about 100 clay and enamel beads, fragments of raw amber nuggets, fibulae, belt fittings, pendants, a ring, a golden wire, clay spinners and numerous fragments of pottery. The finds from Buczek are interpreted as aquatic deposits from the Roman period, very rare in the area of present-day Poland.

Bartłomiej Rogalski