Very Rare Domitian Caesar Quinarius

Every once in a while, quite by accident, I stumble across a coin that comes as a complete surprise. Recently I purchased a Domitian as Caesar quinarius which turned out to be a second known example of the type from 79. I thought I'd never own one.


Domitian as Caesar
AR Quinarius
Rome Mint, 79 AD
RIC V1089 (R3), BMC - , RSC -
Obv: CAESAR AVG F DOMITIANVS COS VI; Head of Domitian, laureate, bearded, r.
Rev: VICTORIA AVGVST; Victory std. l., with wreath and palm

Domitian's COS VI coins most likely date towards the end of Vespasian's reign and the beginning of Titus' rule, indicating the issue was struck uninterrupted after Vespasian's death in June. RIC cites only one unique specimen in Paris. Surprisingly, it is from a different die pair than mine.

Unlike the denarii, Domitian shared with Vespasian and Titus the same quinarius reverse types - either Victory seated or advancing.

Feel free to post any quinarii you may have.

 

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Howdy David,

A real winner, should it not be R5?

Best
Eric

 

Thanks for the kind compliment Eric!

The new Flavian RIC II uses this frequency scale:
R3 unique
R2 very few examples known
R rare
C common
C2 very common
C3 extremely common

 

Congratulations on another fabulous find, David! It sure is fun watching you work on your collection

 

This would be a good coin to list diameter and weight for educational value. It might even be nice to show a photo of it with a contemporary denarius.

 

What a great find, congratulations.

 

Yea, I have a bad habit of not posting those stats for my coins online despite having them listed in my personal database.

This quinarius is 1.46g, 15 mm.

 

Congratulation! Nice to find something like this by accident.

 

Indeed! It was listed by the seller as "Domitianus silver quinar, extra rare". No mention of it being a second known example of the type. Fortunately for me the seller didn't know what he had.

 

The reason I ask here is that from this time through the Severans it is not unusual for some sellers to list low weight denarii in poor condition as quinarii. This is not as much a problem when the quinarii used special reverses but photos make it hard to tell a 15mm coin from an 18mm one. Listing details that will tell beginners how we know that a coin is special always seems like a good idea. That is a decent coin. One has to wonder if quinarii were more common in their day but not as often hoarded so we see them today as more rare. Was there a special reason that some were issued? Perhaps there was something popular that cost half a denarius or they were given as part of a donative that was one as for each year of the emperor's age. Do we have any idea?

 

CONGRATULATIONS!!! I am not sure, but I BELIEVE I ran across it, but did not capture it. I love Quinarii, and somehow yours is familiar to me. Great job getting it! And I regret that if I saw it, that I passed on it! As you requested, here are some of my Quinarii:


RI Augustus Quinarius - possibly Asia Recepta - blank wore-off-rev (freebie to me)


RR Quinarius Anonymous 211-210 BCE Aplulian Mint Craw 102-2


RI AR Quinarius Augustus 25-23 BCE Emerita Augusta Sear 1642


RR AR Quinarius Q Titius 90 BCE PEGASOS Obv-Rev Sear240


RR AR Quinarius Q Titius 90BCE G Sear240


RR AR Quinarius Q Titius 90BCE VF Sear240


RR Cn Lentulus Clodianus 86 BCE AR Quinarius Jupiter Victory crowning trophy Craw 245-2


RI Hadrian 117-138 AR Quinarius

 

Few more of my Quinarii...


RR AR Quinarius 211-208 BC Roma Dioscuri S 42 Cr 47-1a


RR AR Quinarius 211-208 BC Roma Dioscuri S 42 Cr 44-6


RR AR Quinarius 89 BC Porcius Cato Bacchus Liber Victory S 248 Cr 343-2


RR AR Quinarius 97 BC Egnatuleius Apollo Victory Trophy Carnyx S 213 Cr 333-1


RImp AR Quin Octavian 29-28 BCAsia Recepta Victry Cista Snakes S 1568 (another freebie from a friend)


RR AR Quinarius 81 BC Anon Apollo MARIUS GAUL Victory S 305 Cr 373-1


RImp AR Quin Emerita Augusta Victory S 1642


RImp AR Quin Marc Antony Concordia Clasped Hands Caduceus Cr 529-4b


Mine may not be all purdy; Quinarii are a little more difficult to find. AND, I enjoy the 'touch' with Ancient History, and the chain of time through these Quinarii... FUN!

 

A few RR quinarii:

 

Under the Republic the quinarius may have served simply a monetary role. Perhaps Vespasian revived it for purely traditional reasons (hence the use of Victory as the main reverse type), which would fit with the antiquarian nature of the Rome mint and its issues during his reign.

 

Terrific find David!!! It's always super cool to snag a rare coin, especially at a great price!!

Jeez, 'AL' and 'VOL" seem to have cornered the market on RR Quinarii...

My contribution--- Cloelius and the celebration of Marius over the Teutones:

 

@Mikey Zee ... you inspired me!

RR Cloelius 98 BC Quin Jupiter F dots Victory Gaul captive Q Cr 332-1c S212

 

Just awesome !

Q

 

Outstanding eye as usual, a wonderful catch!

 

Nice OP coin and all.
One of my favorites -

 

What a lovely quinarius. I like that you included pictures of the original Spink envelope, it's especially of interest to me because of my recent transfer of my collection into paper envelopes.