I won this denarius on eBay the first week of January. It finally arrived from Europe a few days ago! What a relief! I concede the coin doesn't look like anything of note (just another ragged Domitian Minerva), but it is actually something quite special. Domitian AR Denarius, 3.10g Rome mint, 92 AD RIC 738 (R2). BMC (spec. acquired 1990). RSC - . Obv: IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM P M TR P XI; Head of Domitian, laureate, bearded, r. Rev: IMP XXII COS XVI CENS P P P; Minerva stg. l., with spear (M4) Ex Dionysos, eBay, January 2018. This denarius is from a very rare issue struck towards the end of summer 92 and can be dated by the TR P XI and IMP XXII, an exceedingly rare combination. This series commemorating Domitian's 22nd imperial acclamation was most likely awarded for a victory against the Sarmatians and Suevi near the end of the campaigning season just before he became TR P XII on 14th September. The rarity of this dating combination indicates just how tight the window was for this issue. Perhaps struck for just a few fleeting weeks (or days).
Congrats there would not be to many of that coin around, tell me did they know when selling on Ebay how rare it was?
Congrats. I would of course have been clueless about the rarity of the variety. I'm glad there are specialist folk like you out there, though.
Congrats. A good find indeed and well worth the wait. It is a good thing for the specialist that the general dealers can't differentiate these rarities from the more common types. Long may that continue.
One of the perks of being a specialist! One time I purchased a 'common' denarius from a well known Vcoins dealer and he emailed me asking why I purchased it. After I explained that it was an unlisted variant he replied 'I knew there was something special about that coin when I saw that you had purchased it.' LOL
