My latest coin makes the third Domitianic rhino quadrans I've acquired. There are four main variants and three ultra rare mules of the type, so my work isn't quite done here. This one I believe is a bit above average. Domitian Æ Quadrans, 3.39g Rome Mint, 84-85 AD Obv: (No legend) Rhinoceros stg. l. Rev: IMP DOMIT AVG GERM; S C in centre RIC 250 (C). BMC 498. BNC 539. Acquired from eBay, January 2022. A few years into Domitian's reign an extraordinary issue of quadrantes were struck featuring a rhinoceros. Although the coins are undated, their production can be narrowed down between late 83 when he assumed the title Germanicus and 85 when the consular date XI appeared on the quadrantes. The type is highly unusual and breaks with the standard obverses that were normally featured on the quadrans. One may ask, why a rhinoceros? Certainly the animal was rare in Rome and most difficult to obtain. The rhinoceros depicted on the coin is the African species, identified by the two horns. Martial in his book 'On Spectacles' tells of such a rhinoceros in the Colosseum. Presumably, these coins were struck with that very 'star performer' in mind. Ted Buttrey wrote about this coin type in his article Domitian, the Rhinoceros, and the Date of Martial's "Liber De Spectaculis": "it is wrong to write off the rhinoceros of Domitian's coin casually, as if the coin were a picture postcard from the zoo: 'This is a rhinoceros'. No, coin types are pointed. Everything has to do with imperial advertisement and with its importance at the moment of issue: 'This is my rhinoceros'. Domitian's rhinoceros, in its supremacy in the arena might well stand as a metaphor for the invincible success of the emperor conquering general who had recently assumed the historically-weighted title of Germanicus." Coming back to Martial, he also speaks of tokens being showered upon the cheering crowds - could these quadrantes struck cheaply and in massive quantities have been gifts to the cheering mob at the arena? In essence, can this coin double as currency and a souvenir from a long ago day at the games in the Colosseum? RIC places this issue of quadrantes within the 84-85 time period based on Domitian titled as 'Germanicus' ('GERM' - which could only be post 83) and before 85 (after which all these small issues were dated). RIC also speculates many of these quadrantes were struck 'al marco', i.e. by batch weight, because of the variable weights encountered on many specimens. This is a common variant of the rhino type which has the reverse legend starting in the lower left. Please show your unusual zoological coins!
Nice catch ! Could it be that Domitian wanted to be seen as equal to Julius caesar, but not copying him, thus showing an african animal other than the "usual" elephant ? Q Edit : typo
A nice example and a great write-up. Here's mine, a different variety from yours, with the rhino facing right and the legend beginning at 1:00: Domitian (son of Vespasian), AE Quadrans [1/4 As] late 83-85 AD, Rome Mint. Obv. African Rhinoceros with two horns advancing right with head down/ Rev IMP DOMIT AVG GERM (clockwise around starting at 1:00), S C across. RIC II-1 Domitian 249 (2007 ed.), Sear RCV II 2834, Cohen 673. (Legend starting at 1:00 rather than 7:00 is rarer variety, with only 4 examples at OCRE -- none at British Museum; see http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.2_1(2).dom.249 -- and 8 at acsearch.) 16.5 mm., 2.56 g. [Issued after Domitian’s assumption of Germanicus title in late 83 AD, but before the Consular date XI was added to his quadrantes in 85. It was possibly distributed as a token and/or souvenir to the crowds at the Colosseum, which Domitian completed in 82 by adding its uppermost story. See Martial’s Liber De Spectaculis (http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/martial_on_the_games_of_domitian_01_text.htm) re exhibition of rhinoceros at Colosseum, and re practice of distributing tokens to crowd. See also T.V. Buttrey, “Domitian, the Rhinoceros, and the Date of Martial's ‘Liber De Spectaculis,’" The Journal of Roman Studies Vol. 97 (2007), pp. 101-112, at https://www.jstor.org/stable/20430573?seq=1.] I'm not sure how unusual this next one is -- although I can't think of any Roman Imperial coins showing a hippopotamus other than this antoninianus of Otacilia Severa, a sestertius of her son Philip II, and a number of different varieties of Hadrian's coins depicting Nilus -- but it's one of my favorites, and I'll take any opportunity to show it off: Otacilia Severa (wife of Philip I) AR antoninianus AD 248, Rome mint, 4th Officina. Obv. Draped bust right, wearing stephane, crescent behind shoulders, OTACIL SEVERA AVG/ Rev. Hippopotamus standing right, jaws open, SAECVLARES AVGG; IIII in exergue. RIC IV-3 116(b), RSC IV-3 63, Sear RCV III 9160 (ill.). 23 mm., 4.52 g. (Games commemorating 1,000th anniversary of founding of Rome.)
Or maybe he was just trying to one-up his brother: Titus Caesar, A.D. 69-71 Imperator, A.D. 71-79 Augustus, A.D. 79-81 Silver Denarius Rome mint, A.D. 78-79 Obv (retrograde): T CAESAR VESPASIANVS Rev: Sow and piglets IMP XIII in exergue RIC (New;Vespasian) 986 18mm, 2.9g.
Great to see you beginning the little bronzes, David! It me years to finish this set of quadrantes. The four variations of the rhinos aren’t so bad (although the left rhino/legend starting at 12h was tough), but finding the three mules takes a LOT of patience. These mules are not quite as rare as RIC states but they are close. Tougher yet are the Domitian quadrans and semis with the ship on the reverse. I have only seen one example of each in the last decade and I was way outgunned on both!
Wow! Very nice, @David Atherton . Mine is a Lefty, too. Which is a variant from the normal right facing for this series. Roman Provincial Trajan Egypt AE Dichalkon Laureate hd L Rhinoceros walking L LI-Z yr 17 CE 113-114 12.9mm 1.25g Emmet 719 var. rhino right Ex: SteveX6 collection
Very nice examples. I like coins with animal reverses and I try to get as many as I can. Have quite a few and really proud of them. I know about the Domitian rhino quadrantes but all the examples I have seen in auctions were much inferior compared to the examples on this thread (one some you couldn't even guess it was a rhino there, because of the wear) but the prices went too high up. So still waiting for a decent one that my wallet would also find decent. Here is my latest zoological addition. Not a rarity - but I was content to get this, at a low price. The coin has beautiful toning and I liked Salonina's portrait. But what I liked most was the animal reverse, a "reply" to the zoo series issued for her husband. RIC states Salonina AD 254-268. Rome Antoninianus Æ 20 mm, 3,00 g COR SALONINA AVG, bust of Salonina, diademed, draped, right, on crescent / IVNONI CONS AVG, doe, walking left RIC V Salonina (2) 16 However I could distinguish on my example that the head of an animal doesn't look too much like a doe. I checked other examples, from better dies, and my opinion stands. Other descriptions found for this coin: "Goat standing left", "Bearded and antlered goat walking l.", "combined goat and stag standing left".
Hippo Sestertius from the Saecular Games of 248 AD: MARCIA OTACIL SEVERA AVG - Draped bust of Otacilia Severa right, seen three quarters from front, wearing Stephane SAECVLARES AVGG, S C in exergue - Hippopotamus walking right, head raised Sestertius, Rome, 4th officina, 9th emission of Philip I, AD 248 30,25 mm / 18,37 g / 6 h RIC (Philip I) 200a; Cohen 65, Banti 13, Hunter 26 Ex Classical Numismatic Group Electronic Auction 474 (12.08.2020), ex Jack A. Frazer collection, purchased from John Aiello, March 1976
Nice coins everyone! @DonnaML, your type (RIC 249) is the only one I am still missing from Domitian's Rhino Quadrantes. Here are the 3 ultra rare mules @David Atherton was mentioning: Domitianus, Quadrans (2.04 g), Rome, 84-85 AD. Obv. Rhinoceros stg. l. Rev. S – C, olive branch. RIC 252 (R2). Domitianus, Quadrans (2.87 g), Rome, 84-85 AD. Obv. Rhinoceros stg. l. Rev. S – C, owl stg. r. on branch, head front. RIC 253 (R3). Domitianus, Quadrans (2.27 g), Rome, 84-85 AD. Obv. Rhinoceros stg. l. Rev. S C, within laurel wreath. RIC 254 (R3).
Neat addition @David Atherton. With a total lack of any relevant historical knowledge whatsoever, I find this explanation more then reasonable. It reminds me of a coin I posted a while ago, the well known reverse of which shows spectacular games held by Septimius Severus in the Circus Maximus. This coin - in my opinion - also send out a message, which makes it more than just a tourist curiousity or a silver memory of fun times had at the circus: it shows the ultimate power of the emperor (and his dynasty) and his domination over the world and every living thing in it.
Oh, I've been collecting bronzes for some time...it's just that when one is acquiring coins of the entire dynasty it takes a while to complete some series!
According to the Cedric Wolkow book on the Zoo Series of Gallienus (of which this coin is a part), and some other authorities I've seen, it's an antelope. Yours, with the antelope facing left, is cataloged as Wolkow 29a4. (See Cédric Wolkow, Catalogue des monnaies romaines - Gallien - L'émission dite "Du Bestiaire" - atelier de Rome (BNumis, édition 2019), at p. 98.) It's also Göbl MIR [Moneta Imperii Romani] Band 36, No. 725(A).
