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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;David Atherton, post: 2787821, member: 82616&quot;]My latest arrival is a rare Domitian &#039;PONT&#039; denarius.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]646661[/ATTACH]<b>Domitian</b></p><p>AR Denarius, 3.17g</p><p>Rome mint, 81 AD</p><p>RIC 40 (R2), BMC -, RSC -</p><p>Obv: IMP CAES DOMITIANVS AVG PONT; Head of Domitian, laureate, bearded, r.</p><p>Rev: TR P COS VII DES VIII P P; Altar, garlanded and lighted</p><p>Acquired from London Ancient Coins, June 2017.</p><p><br /></p><p>The abbreviation &#039;PONT&#039; for Ponitfex Maximus must have come early in the rapid sequence of titles Domitian employed on his denarii in 81 and likely was short lived if its rarity is any indication. The more usual &#039;PM&#039; soon followed and was used for the remainder of the reign. The records of the Arval brothers do not show Domitian as Pontifex Maximus by 30 October 81, so presumably he acquired the title in either November or December. The altar on the reverse is a carry-over pulvinaria type struck for Domitian as Caesar under Titus, perhaps representing the pulvinar of Vesta and Vulcan.</p><p><br /></p><p>Interestingly, the obverse legend displays the Greek influenced &#039;Y&#039; instead of &#039;V&#039;, perhaps evidence of a Greek engraver&#039;s handiwork. More information about this can be read here: <a href="http://www.jhecoins.com/articles/article01.htm" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.jhecoins.com/articles/article01.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.jhecoins.com/articles/article01.htm</a></p><p><br /></p><p>I could spend the rest of my life collecting all these early Domitian denarii![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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