After some immense cleaning and retouching I have finally gotten a portrait out of this stupid thing. The obverse head is of the emperor Domitian! This sestertius still needs a lot of work before it goes into my collection though. I think I have the coin: but I need to run it by you guys just to make sure. :O ;] Domitian: Material: Bronze Date: AD 81 Denomination: Æ Sestertius Mint: Rome Obverse: IMP CAES DIVI VESP F DOMITIAN AVG P M: Bust of Domitian, laureate, draped on left shoulder, right Reverse: TR P COS VII DES VIII P P S C: Minerva standing left, holding vertical spear in right hand So here's a different example that I found while researching. Its a match! And here's my example again just so you can see how massive this thing really is. It is almost the size of a Morgan!
@Colby J. can measure your coin? I do not have a sestertius of Domitian, but below is an As with a measurement of 27mm. A sestertius should be 33 mm or bigger. DOMITIAN AE As OBVERSE: IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM COS XI CENS POT P P, laureate head right, aegis at tip of bust REVERSE: MONETA AVGVSTI, S-C, Moneta standing left, holding scales & cornucopiae Struck at Rome, 85AD 11.7g, 27mm RIC 384 BTW, nice coin and great cleaning job!
It's definitely a sestertius. The weight is 19.4 grams. I have many other sestertius' that are twice as small.
A sestertius of Domitian should be 25+ grams and about 35mm. Anything smaller will be an As or Dupondius. Over the years of course the weight and diameter of the sestertius decreased. I'm not sure how you came up with Domitian though...
My Domitian sestertius experience is limited, but I have a very worn one, stripped that comes in at this: 21.86 grams / 31 mm. Bad photo - it is very brassy yellow - it probably lost 3 grams in stripped patina! Domitian Æ Sestertius (95-96 A.D.) Rome Mint [IMP CAES] DOMIT AVG GERM COS XVII CENS [PER P P], laureate head right / [IOVI VIC]TORI SC, Jupiter seated left holding Victory & sceptre. RIC 794. (21.86 grams / 31 mm)