Style is everything when determining a mint attribution for a coin type that was struck at multiple mints. My latest coin was commonly struck at Rome and rarely at an unknown mint in Asia Minor. I knew the difference, the seller did not. Needless to say it was a bargain! Domitian as Caesar [Vespasian] AR Denarius, 2.82g Ephesus (?) mint, 76 AD Obv: CAES AVG F DOMIT COS III; Head of Domitian, laureate, bearded, r. 'o' mint mark below neck Rev: PRINCEPS IVVENTVT; Spes, draped, advancing l., holding up flower in r. hand and with l. holding up her skirt. A mysterious eastern mint struck a spate of denarii in 76 which copied many contemporary types from Rome. Both RIC and RPC speculate it possibly could be Ephesus, citing a similar style with a previous Ephesian issue from 74 and the use of an annulet as a mint mark. The issue is extremely rare. This denarius copies the much more common Spes type contemporaneously struck at Rome for Domitian. These eastern denarii are often confused with the issues from Rome, however, they can be distinguished by their superior style and the annulet (if visible) below the bust. For comparison, here is my Rome mint example of the type. Domitian as Caesar [Vespasian] AR Denarius, 3.36g Rome mint, 75 AD Obv: CAES AVG F DOMIT COS III; Head of Domitian, laureate, bearded, r. Rev: PRINCEPS IVVENTVT; Spes, draped, advancing l., holding up flower in r. hand and with l. holding up her skirt. RIC 788 (C). BMC 156. RSC 375. BNC 135. Ex Harlan J Berk 155, 31 July 2007, lot 247. Please post your misattributed bargains. Thanks for looking!
Wonderful coin. It's great to grab coins like that. What attracts me is the detail on outer portion of Spes outfit.
I neglected to add the attribution info for the OP coin: RIC 1489 (R2). BMC 481. BNC -. RPC 1462 (1 spec.). RSC 575a. Acquired from eBay, April 2022. Missing from the Paris collection.
What a deal, @David Atherton! Not just a rarity, but a beauty, too! I have lots of similar cherry-picking stories about my Faustina collection. The best one is when the dealer mistook this great rarity issued before Antoninus Pius became Pater Patriae ... ... for this one after Pius was awarded the title.
Isn't it a sweet feeling? Developing an eye for such things takes time, but boy are the rewards worth it!
