VESPASIAN, A.D. 69-79. AR Denarius (3.54 gms), Rome Mint, ca. A.D. 80-81. NGC AU, Strike: 5/5 Surface: 4/5.RIC (Titus)-357. Laureate head of Vespasian facing right; Reverse: Two Capricorns back-to-back supporting shield inscribed "S C", globe below. Great centering, good strike, pleasing tone with strong underlying luster.From the Collection of Dr. Ralph Van Deman Magoffin, 1874-1942.<p>Stacks Bowers Galleries is pleased to be offering ancient Greek and Roman coins collected by Dr. Ralph Van Deman Magoffin, archeologist, classics professor, author and philanthropist. Dr. Magoffin was born in 1874 and over his distinguished career, studied and worked both in his native United States and abroad. </p><p>In 1907 Dr. Magoffin was a fellow of the American Academy in Rome, during which time he studied the topography of ancient Praeneste. As an archeologist he was involved in excavations at sites in Greece, Rome and the Near East. His career as a professor included teaching Classical History and Archeology at Johns Hopkins University and as chair of the Department of Classics at New York University. From 1920 to 1921 he was affiliated with the American Academy in Rome. From 1908 through 1934 Dr. Magoffin wrote eight books on archeology and history, including <em>Magic Spades: The Romance of Archeology,</em> which saw wide use in university classrooms.</p><p>Dr. Magoffin was a major benefactor of the Florence Museum in Florence, South Carolina and was involved in its very beginnings in 1939, when he was a guest speaker at the museums opening event. He donated a significant selection of antiquities he had collected over his career, the nucleus of a diversely representative, world-conscious educational collection. Dr. Magoffin passed away in 1942.</p><p></p>