A package from Europe sent out the first week of January finally made it to me a couple of days ago. Even though I have other coins backlogged from early February I have yet to deal with, I moved these tardy arrivals to the front of the queue. Here is the first one. Domitian AR Denarius, 2.88g Rome mint, 88 AD RIC 555 (R2). BMC p. 325 note. RSC 233a. Obv: IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM P M TR P VII; Head of Domitian, laureate, bearded, r. Rev: COS XIIII across field; Minerva stg. l., with spear (M4) Ex Private Collection. 88 AD was the year Domitian held the Secular Games and the Rome mint struck a series of denarii with reverses that explicitly commemorated the event. Additionally, the mint was experimenting with the denarius' standard Minerva reverse designs and legends. These special Minerva issues struck early in 88 may have a connection to the games as well. This denarius has the normal Minerva with spear (M4) but unusually has the consular date across field and lacks the IMP number. Denarii with the legends across field are very scarce. It is also a reverse die match with the RIC plate coin, a good indication how rare the type is. Stay tuned for Experimentation at the Mint: Part Two.
Nice to know I'm not the only one who gets backlogged. I have a baaaad habit of letting too many new arrivals skip the line, so I still have unopened packages from 2007 on a back shelf.
