VESPASIAN. Æ Dupondius. Rome, 1 July 70/Early 71 AD.

Obv. IMP CAESAR AVG VESPASIAN Laureated head right
Rev. TIT ET DOMITIANVS CAESARE SC Titus and Domitian galloping

RIC -, Cohen -

Unrecorded Dupondius for Vespasian, struck in Rome, with unusual obverse legend and unrecorded reverse legend; the reverse type however is known with different legend, T ET DOMITIAN CAESARES PRIN IVVENT, like BN 469 and 470.
Galloping Titus and Domitian are seen as the brothers Castor and Pollux are represented on famous statues, to be the hope of the future.

[from Curtis Clay]
The obv. die is the same as that of a unique dupondius in Oxford, ex Prince Waldeck Collection, Münzhandlung Basel 3, 1935, 233 (pl. 9) and Ryan Coll. Part 5, Glendining 1952, 2738 (not ill.), with rev. EX S C OB CIV SER within oak wreath.

The obv. legend and portrait style are very close to a bare-headed middle-bronze obv. die, which has the extraordinary obv. legend IMP CAESAR AVG VIISPAS.SIAN. II is an attested odd form of E, but S.S is simply an error! The die is official, however; rev. types CONCORD AVG S C, Concordia seated l. before altar and PROVID S C, altar enclosure.

The sestertii that go with these middle bronzes have legend IMP CAES AVG VESPAS COS II TR POT, with reverses T ET DOM C EX S C, the two Caesars seated; PAX AVGVSTI S C, Pax standing; S C, Victory inscribing shield set on palm, captive seated below; and FORTVNAE REDVCI S C, Fortuna Redux standing.

These coins are all illustrated and discussed by Kraay, The bronze coinage of Vespasian, Essays...Sutherland, Spink (London), 1978. They are Vespasian's first issue of bronze coins at Rome, in 70 AD, all very rare.