I actually do not blame anyone who has a problem attributing the Minerva reverse denarii of Domitian. After the first few the letters all run together and it can be difficult to compare all those titles to the listing in RIC. My strategy is to look up the reference, wait an hour and then repeat.
This one was misattributed as RIC 686.
The attribution was:
"Obverse: IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM P M TR P XIII, laureate head right
Reverse: IMP XXI COS XIII CENS P P P, Minerva standing right on capital of rostral column, brandishing spear and holding sheild, owl before"
But RIC 686 is not TR P XIII it is TR P VIIII. Also, the obverse on the actual coin reads TR P VIII. Although the 'V' looks a bit different it is not 'X' because this does not work with the other listed titles. It is an impossible dating combination.There is no TR P XIII IMP XXI COS IIII. IMP XXI stops at TR P XI. Also the attribution given cites COS XIII when the coin reads COS XIIII very clearly.
I really like the dark toning on this coin and it is a rare one. It is unlisted in BMC and RSC. I guess that means it is not in the British museum collection. The ANS has one and this is the only one listed on OCRE. There is no photo in the RIC plates. RIC lists one in the Dr Jryki Muona collection. RIC 675 is also published in Peter Kos & Andrej Semrov " Roman Imperial Coins and Countermarks of the 1st century" Ljubljana (1995).
Domitian AR Denarius (19mm, 3.23g, 6h). Rome mint, struck c. Sept 14, 88 - c. Sept 13, 89 (Sixth Issue).
Obv: IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM P M TR P VIII, head laureate right;
Rev: IMP XXI COS XIIII CENS P P P, Minerva stg. R on capital of rostral column, with spear and shield; to r. owl. (M2).
RIC 675 (R2), BMC--, RSC -
Posted 03/05/2019 7:13 pm
