While RIC calls this coin common I have not found it easy to find. The reverse on this coin shows an early depiction of Minerva for Domitian as Augustus. These first year denarii of Domitian are quickly becoming my favourite sub-specialty under the Flavian umbrella so to speak. There is currently one in the FAC galleries and I will bet you know who that belongs to...Correct, @David Atherton is the owner of that one. There are 5 examples on Acsearch (after one removes the duplicates). I also know that another Flavian collector has one. Regardless of rarity I love this coin for the portrait as well. Though I love the portraits from 84-88 and I find that some of these are in fine style, we sometimes see some superb portraits on the early denarii as well. The engraver who cut this die for this one was obviously a person of some talent. I am glad that this coin is now in my collection. Domitian AR Denarius 81 CE (Group 4) (18mm 3.1g) Obv: Head laureate right; IMP CAES DOMITIANVS AVG PM Rev: Minerva advancing right with spear and shield; TR P COS VII DES VIII PP RIC 58 Purchased from Savoca 81st Blue auction July 19, 2020 Lot 942
This is one of those borderline 'common' coins. It isn't extremely rare, but neither is it regularly seen in trade. With that being said, I wouldn't quite apply the 'rare' frequency to it. Nice example BTW.
