Judaea Capta: Vespasian AE As (Scarce “IVDEA” Spelling), ex Bressett & Salton (and maybe V. Clain-Stefanelli?)
Return to “Barbarians, Captives, and Enemies” Page (to Flavian Section)
Return to “Provenance Coins V: Roman” Page (to this coin)
Return to “Provenance Glossary” Page (to Private Collections)
Coin-in-hand video & some more background: Blog post (15 Jul 2022).
Roman Imperial. Vespasian AE As (28mm, 9.40g, 6h), “Judaea Capta” commemorative, Rome mint, c. 71 CE.
Obv: IMP CAES VESPASIAN AVG COS III. Laureate head right.
Rev: IVDEA CAPTA / S C in exergue. Judaea seated right in attitude of mourning, Palm tree to her left; to left, pile of arms (shields, helmet).
Ref: RIC II 305; Cohen 244; Hendin (GBC 5) 1554 (b); OCRE (RIC 305; 14 specs.). Note: Incorrectly described by CNG as RIC 1233 (Lugdunum / 77-8 CE / COS VIII / IVDAEA).
Prov: Ex Kenneth Bressett (1928-) Collection (CNG Keystone 6 [11 Mar 2022], Lot 3156, Corr.); acq. from Mark Salton-Schlessinger (1914-2005), 1957 for $8, with his tag/envelope.
Prov (cont.): Very possibly acquired by Salton from Hesperia Art Ltd.’s (Vladimir Clain-Stefanelli & Robert Hecht, Baltimore MD) inaugural List 1 (Spring 1951), Nos. 386 (“F/VF”) or 387 (“G”) — prob. the latter. No photos or weights given, but Cohen 244’s are scarce, and Salton did buy other coins from that sale. Thus, while speculative, it must be considered the likely source for this coin.
While emphasizing again that the Hesperia purchase is only educated conjecture, it is worth recognizing the dramatic parallels between the historical context of the coin and the biographies of its modern collectors:
Vladimir Clain-Stefanelli (1914-1982) was accused of assisting a Nazi enemy and imprisoned for c. 18 months at Buchenwald Concentration Camp. Mark Salton-Schlessinger (1914-2005) escaped the Nazis, but his parents (incl. famous coin dealer Felix Schlessinger) were murdered at Auschwitz.
The parallels in their biographies are remarkable: Both men, having been born in 1914, survived the War and emigrated to New York. Both were married to serious numismatists (Lottie and Elvira), with whom they collaborated in scholarship and private collecting. Incidentally, they both also changed their names after the war, upon immigrating: from Clain to Clain-Stefanelli; and, from Max Schlessinger to Mark M. Salton (sometimes Salton-Schlessinger).
At present, this is the only object in my “provenance collection” that I suspect may directly connect the Saltons and the Clain-Stefanellis. It is uncannily appropriate that the coin would be of this particular type.
