Dupondius Claudius - Spain mint II (Tarraco)

CLAUDIUS. Æ As. Tarraco (Spain mint II), 41-42 AD. Obv. TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG IMP P M TR P Bare head left Rev. CERES AVGVSTA SC Ceres seated l. on throne, holding two corn-ears and long torch. Cf. RIC I 94 note; BMCRE 139; Von Kaenel 244 (same obv. die) Very unusual placement of IMP in obv. legend. As Laffranchi showed in 1948, confirmed and somewhat modified by von Kaenel in his monograph on Claudius' coinage and by C. Clay researches, Claudius' bronze coinage in 41 (not yet P P) was produced not only at Rome, but also at three branch mints in the provinces. "The Pobla-mint bronzes of Claudius I, however, are NOT in Roman style. They have a particular and vigorous style of portraiture and engraving that you will learn to recognize. Characteristic marks that never occur at Rome include (1) letter R, formed by an upright stroke and what looks like a backwards S, which joins the upright at the top but does NOT reach back to it in the middle, leaving a clear "leak" in the normally closed circlet at the top. (2) Letter M, ofter narrower at the bottom than at the top. (3) Often dots left and right of S C in rev. exergue." [from C. Clay] P.H. Besombes and J.N. Barrandon have identified these official mints as: - Rome - Spain I (mint in military camp, Leon region, Astorga), dedicated to the military units in Spain - Spain II (Tarraco), known from the La Pobla de Mafumet hoard - Gaul (Lugdunum?) many unofficial local imitations being made at this time in Gaul (up to 30 to 50% of the Claudius coinage found in significant place) (Nouvelles propositions de classement des monnaies de « bronze » de Claude Ier, Paul-André Besombes; Jean-Noël Barrandon Revue Numismatique, 2000). Same obv. die as Von Kaenel 244 and CNG 63, lot 1633: [IMG]http://roma.resvrges.free.fr/monnaies/dup_claude_vs_cng63.jpg[/IMG] Wonderful untouched green patina. Found in Spain.