I Took A Chance on This

Last week I came across what appeared to be an extremely rare Domitian denarius on eBay. The picture wasn't exactly clear enough for me to make a definitive determination about the dating combination. So, I took a chance and won it at the opening bid of $75. No one else deemed it worthy enough for that price.

What it needed to be for my gamble to pay off was TR P VI on the obverse matched with IMP XII on the reverse. Once in hand, I could see that the coin was indeed a second known specimen!

Domitian
AR Denarius, 2.92g
Rome mint, 86 AD
RIC 444 (R3), BMC - , RSC -
Obv: IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM P M TR P VI; Head of Domitian, laureate, bearded, r.
Rev: IMP XII COS XII CENS P P P; Minerva adv. r., with spear and shield (M1)
Acquired from Ancient Treasures (eBay), April 2017.

A second known Minerva fighting right from the third issue of 86. This rare dating combination could not have been struck for very long after Domitian became TR P VI in mid September, due to the the issue's extreme rarity. In fact, the final 'I' in the obverse legend appears to have been engraved over the tip of the bust, indicating it is a reworked TR P V die. Not long after this coin was struck (perhaps just a few days) word reached the mint of Domitian's thirteenth imperial acclamation, ending this issue's brief run.

The denarii from this time period were engraved in a very fine style - this coin is an excellent example of such.

To be honest, if it turned out the date on the coin wasn't all that rare I'd still be happy.

 

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Congrats David !

an another issue:

 

Ecellent style whatever the date of issue is. The TRP VI/IMP XII thingy is the cherry on the cake

Well spotted David (the eye of the tiger ! )


My TRP XV/IMP XXII humble example




Q

 

Coin looks great and congratulations on another rarity snatched up!

 

Excellent catch @David Atherton. Good eye, but I suppose one would have to have an in depth knowledge of the series, as you do, to know what to look for. Congrats.

 

David, you're really capitalizing on your specialist knowledge! Congratulations

 

Nice David. Only YOU would have gotten that! Well done, great coin, and well worth the money even if it WEREN'T rare!

 

Congrats on another terrific purchase!! Rare with high artistry.... and a bargain to boot! WOW!!

 

Great cherry-picking David, kudos!

 

i would guess specializing does pay off, good nab Dave!

 

Really nice catch David, congrats.

 

Excellent score!

 

Nice grab, pretty sure a lot of people would have missed it.

 

Thanks everyone for the kind comments!

I contacted Ted Buttrey about the piece, so hopefully the frequency will be updated in the Addenda from unique (R3) to scarce (R2).

 

nice coin/ only i dont like buy from ebay

 

https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?term= IMP XII COS XII CENS P P P; Minerva a&category=1-2&en=1&de=1&fr=1&it=1&es=1&ot=1&images=1&currency=usd&thesaur

yours letters from reverse are hard to read/ obv is oke
total not unique
and i see only XIII not XII

 

XIII

 

Which is why I needed the coin in hand to determine the correct reading.

The coin you show is from another issue struck in 87. Notice Domitian is COS XIII in that example.

 

Well, I'm not going to argue. But the first 'numeral' you believe is there is actually the final 'S' in COS XII.

And I won't even throw out there Dr. Buttrey agrees with my reading.

 

you reverse is so hard to see XII

oke