I systematically collect Flavian silver and admittedly, especially with Domitian's Minerva series, acquire them to fill catalogue gaps in my collection. My latest arrival is one such coin. Interestingly, it can be precisely dated to a mid December mintage. Domitian AR Denarius, 3.50g Rome mint, 88-89 AD Obv: IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM P M TR P VIII; Head of Domitian, laureate, bearded, r. Rev: IMP XVIII COS XIIII CENS P P P; Minerva adv. r., with spear and shield (M1) RIC 663 (R2). BMC -. RSC 248. BNC 143. Ex Papillon 7, 10 July 2021, lot 749. A very rare denarius which records Domitian's 18th imperial acclamation, most likely struck in late 88. Imperial acclamations were coming fast and furious during the 88-89 time period, which is the primary means of differentiating the many various issues since Domitian did not take the consulship in 89. He was campaigning against the Dacians in 88 and presumably that is the likely explanation of the rapid succession of imperial acclamations during the time period. The denarii recording his 18th imperial acclamation are some of the rarest and were probably struck for just a few days. A military diploma dated 7 November, 88 records Domitian as IMP XVII, therefore this tiny issue must have been struck soon after that date at the end of 88 and/or very early in 89. RIC speculates mid December 88. Perhaps this coin was used to purchase Saturnalia gifts that year? I am now lacking only one Minerva type from this rare issue. Please feel free to post your 'gap' fillers.
Congrats on adding this one. I am always looking to add denarii from this issue. They are all rare and do not show up very often.
I always enjoy reading these types of posts in order to see and learn about coins I could never dream of owning, or ones that maybe I could own someday but I know little about. The funny thing about this coin, though, is a light bulb went off after seeing your post. "Hey, that looks a bit like my Domitian." Honestly, until I read your post I didn't know anything about it. I just knew this was a Domitian that I picked up since it was cheap and I wanted a coin from him. Domitian AR Denarius. Rome, AD 90. IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM P M TR P VIIII, laureate head to right / IMP XXI COS XV CENS P P P, Minerva standing facing, head to right on rostral column, brandishing spear and shield, owl at her feet. RIC II.2 690; BMCRE 166; RSC 262. 3.30g, 18mm, 6h. Ex Vitangelo Collection. Ex Roma. Of course, acsearch brings up ~300 of them, so mine is nowhere near as rare. I tried looking up what the story of his 21st imperial proclamation was, but didn't find a great source. So, I appreciate posts like these, because in this case I was able to learn something about one of my own coins.
Congratulations with your new gap filler. Unfortunately, I mainly have gaps, I don't collect RIC numbers consecutively.
