Domitian AR Denarius 88 CE (Group 2 C)

Domitian AR Denarius. Rome 88 CE (Group 2 C)

Obv: Head laureate r; IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERMANIC COS XIII

Rev: Minerva Minerva stg l with thunderbolt and spear; CENS P.P.P.

RIC-568 (R2) BMC 139 RSC 27

Jesus Vico Mail bid auction # 153 Lot 3133 March 7, 2019

I was very excited to win this one. It took a little over one month to receive the coin. It required export paperwork and this can be a slow process.

There is an interesting feature of the obverse legend on this coin. It is very common to see GERM in the obverse legend on coins of Domitian. What is not common is to see GERMANIC in the legend. That alone makes this coin special and worth collecting.

This coin is also special because of the reverse. Note that there is no typical edge lettering. The only legend is across the fields of the coin. This is not a typical Domitian Minerva denarius. In fact, there are only 2 types of Domitian denarii with CENS PPP on the reverse. There is RIC 568 like this coin which is rated R2 for rarity, and there is RIC 569 which is rated R. I have wanted this type for a while but because of the rarity I had to wait until one appeared on the market. When this one did appear I bid aggressively and won the coin.

The other special characteristic is the condition. I loved the portrait on this one. The photo does not do it justice. The portrait is in very high relief and is in fine style.