Scratched Up Domitian Caesar

About a week ago I purchased a scratched Domitian Caesar minted while he was serving under Vespasian.

Conditionally the coin is halfway decent and scratches really don't detract much from the coin. It think the specimen is wonderful for having been through the ringer, not once but twice.

The Aequitas reverse in this case the personification of 'honest measure.'

Well here it is folks...



I spruced up the seller's image for your viewing enjoyment. Stay tuned for Ancientnoob images.


Roman Empire
AE As 28 mm x 12.67 grams
Obverse: Laureate head of Domitian right, Latin legend CAESAR AVG F DOMITIAN COS II
Reverse: Aequitas standing left. Holding stuff.
Ref: Seller's attribution is RIC II 665.

I see Aequitas wearing holding a scepter and maybe a globe, what ever she's holing its not a Cornucopia.

To be honest I am less concerned about the coin than I am about the scratches. 'them some good scratches'.

I have been on the hunt for one for while, but it wasn't reaaaallly high on my list, then about 8 months ago VK found one cheap. Mine was cheap but not VK cheap. Read his thread here.

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/cant-believe-it.258231/

If your really interested there is a very good explanation here.
http://www.oudgeld.com/webbib/countdefweb.htm

 

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I remember that thread, good score for you! Congrats. They are neat.

 

Admittedly I was less impressed when I saw the old Roma Auction photo.

 

Hopefully your new photo catches the actual color and true-looks of your new sweetie? (cool score, Noob)

 

I can only assume these were a hoard discovered and recycled on one occassion. The host coins seem to come from a very short span of time but I recall seeing them on coins of Postumus also. I regret my Domitian coins are defective (unscratched).

 

Regardless of their origin being Italian or North African, isn't it highly odd that Flavian-era bronzes get re-tariffed in the 5th-century? Is there any other instance of such a huge interval of time between minting and recycling?

Was Ostrogothic and/or Vandalic minting in such a state of disrepair that they had to reuse such old coins? Is it possible these were counterstamped as tokens for some sort of very specific and limited purpose other than general commerce?

 

Regardless of precisely why, that is a cool piece of history!!

 

I love your description-"holding stuff"
LOL

 

Neat coin with a fantastic history behind it!

 

oh yeah...now i remember that thread (it didn't click at first)...what a great catch AN.

 

I can't wait for this coin to arrive. I am eager to see what it looks like in hand.

 

It's a nice piece AN.

 

Neat find.I've yet to find one for sale.

 

Here is one for a measly $298.

http://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/inc..._6th_century_ad_very_rare/590918/Default.aspx

 

I personally have seen a super worn coin of Claudius II with "VII" if my memory serves me correct. There virtually no detail left on the host coin, so Im not sure how the Gothicus attribution came about. The 'bay seller wanted some decent coin for it, I didn't bite.

I think I am in the Vandal camp on this. Granted most are found in Italy but if there are finds in Africa and the denominations fits perfectly in the Vandal coin system. @stevex6 post your big Vandal Horse. Then would could almost say for sure that the coins originated in Italy and were destined for Africa. I wonder if at the time if there was such a definitely delineation between Vandal and Goth.

Just a thought.

 

UPDATE:

This is why it is bad juju to post a coin you have yet to receive. It was accidentally shipped to Greece, and the seller is trying to get it back. I wonder what the likely hood of that is?

 

I had this happen to a coin that was supposed to go from Germany to the US, instead it went to the UK. I eventually received it about 2 weeks later. But that's dealing with Royal Mail, I have no idea how ELTA operates.

 

That's distressing news, but I still don't believe in the bad juju of posting coins before you receive them. Anything can happen at any time for any reason. You can't prove causality in any of these situations.

Anyway, here's hoping it all works out in your favor!

 

I'm not really superstitious, but I still do not walk under ladders and I don't throw my ball in bowling if the lane next to me has a split showing. On second thought, maybe I am superstitious.

 

I like your thinking JA.