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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;ambr0zie, post: 7785405, member: 80952&quot;]Hello ladies and gentlemen,</p><p>Just won an interesting coin today.</p><p>I was literally smoked in an auction, I was watching 5 coins and I managed to win a total of zero.</p><p><br /></p><p>No problems, when needed, we improvise, as the number of nice ancient coins is still large ...</p><p>Saw this and decided it would be a nice addition</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1336031[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Worn but the design elements are still visible (with a minus for the shield), very well centered, good legends, good Domitian portrait ... and an intriguing reverse.</p><p>Not being a specialist in Domitian coins, I might be wrong, but 95% of the Domitian denarii I have seen have the reverse with Minerva standing right, with spear and shield.</p><p><br /></p><p>A winged Minerva (because this is also Minerva) is not something I have seen too often.</p><p><br /></p><p>Domitian AD 81-96. Rome</p><p>Denarius AR</p><p>18 mm, 2,62 g</p><p>RIC II, Part 1 (second edition) Domitian 791</p><p>Old RIC 194 (rated scarce) C. 294; BMC 237; CBN 210.</p><p><b>Date Range: </b>AD 95 - AD 96</p><p><b>Obverse Legend: </b>IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM P M TR P XV</p><p><b>Type: </b>Head of Domitian, laureate, right</p><p><b>Reverse Legend: </b>IMP XXII COS XVII CENS P P P</p><p><b>Type: </b>Minerva, winged, draped, helmeted, flying left, holding spear in right hand and round shield on left</p><p>A much better example of this coin was present on Roma auction IX from 2015</p><p><a href="https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=lot&amp;sid=1037&amp;lot=644" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=lot&amp;sid=1037&amp;lot=644" rel="nofollow">https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=lot&amp;sid=1037&amp;lot=644</a></p><p><br /></p><p>with a very interesting write-up:</p><p>The iconography of this coin is most intriguing. This is the only depiction of a winged Minerva in all of Roman coinage, and indeed the concept itself has few parallels in surviving classical art. The closest comparable figure may be found in the winged statue of Minerva Victrix at Ostia, which originally formed part of the decoration of the upper gate known as the Porta Romana. This winged form of Minerva may well have been taken from earlier Greek images of Athena, such as that shown on a black-figure vase found at Orvieto and illustrated in Röm. Mitt. XII, pl. xii, which shows two representations of Athena – one winged and one without wings. With the exception of Nike-Victoria, most of the Greco-Roman gods had shed their wings by the early classical period; that such an archaism should be revived in the time of Domitian is therefore quite inexplicable, save perhaps for the possibility that it was simply an act of whimsy by an emperor who was known to favour Minerva above all other gods.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1336043[/ATTACH]</p><p>Please post</p><p>- coins from the end of a reign (this is another plus for me)</p><p>- coins with surprising and non conventional reverses</p><p>- anything else you feel relevant[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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