Orfew

It is below the neck truncation. Difficult to see but it is there. It’s to the left of the truncation at the bottom of the flan.

Thanks to Marc Breitsprecher for this great coin. I can highly recommend Marc as a seller. He is friendly and very helpful. At first glance this may appear to be a common coin for Domitian as Caesar. However, it is defintely not the mint of Rome. The 'O' mint denarii are still mysterious. No one is sure where they were struck. On theory is that they were struck at Ephesus. Whereever they were minted, these are interesting coins with great looking portraits. Domitian as Caesar 76 CE Uncertain mint Obv: CAE[SAR AVG F DOMITIANVS Head laureate r Rev: COS IIII; Pegasus RIC: 1494 (R2) Ex: From the Eardley and Ethel Madsen Collection, co-publishers, along with David R Sear, of the Journal of the Society for Ancient Numismatics from 1969-2002. Ex: Marc Breitsprecher February 2024

A wonderful coin David! I love the provenance and the portrait.

Very nice interview. I am fortunate that I can call David a friend. I have very much enjoyed the journey and have been thrilled by the new acquisitions. I can thank and blame him for my own fascination with Flavian coins. He has been a thoughtful and helpful guide in this journey and I can hardly wait to see his next acquisitions. Congrats David!

An absolutely fascinating coin! Congrats on this special acquisition

This coin was a must have for me for several reasons. First, it is a PONT denarius. These are rare and highly sought after by collectors of Domitian coins. I also love the provenance of this coin. Dr Jyrki Muona (a well known collector) gifted this coin to Curtis Clay in December of 2008. But the provenance goes back even further because this coin was part of the Sotin hoard. More recently this coin was purchased by me from The Berk buy or bid sale #224 where it was lot 145. There is another important part of the story of this coin. This coin is the RIC reference coin. There is no plate for this coin so it cannot be called the RIC plate coin, but my coin is the coin referred to in RIC 2007. Thanks for reading. Domitian; 81-96 AD, Rome, 81 AD, Denarius, 2.39g. Obv: IMP CAES DOMITIAN AVG PONT Head laureate r. Rev: COS VII - DES VIII P P Wreath on curule chair. RIC-23 (R3) (This coin). Ex Curtis L. Clay Collection, gift from Jurki Muona, Dec. 2008. Possibly only the second known specimen with this reverse. Part of the Sotin Hoard RIC (2007) reference coin Ex Harlan Berk Bid or Buy sale #224 Lot # 145

What may at first appear to be a rather ordinary Domitian denarius, is made extraordinary because of a rare obverse legend and a very rare reverse legend. I am always interested in the PONT denarii. PONT was used by Domitian before PONT MAX. The reverse legend is even more rare than the use of PONT on the obverse. The legend begins with PP. I have wanted an example of this legend variation for more than ten years but they are very elusive. Also, those who collect Domitian denarii are always looking for these so there is quite a lot of competition when they appear. The latest Berk sale provided an opportunity to finally own one of these. Also, this coin was part of the Curtis Clay collection. I always like to pick up coins that have an interesting provenance. The coin itself has an interesting early portrait, and the coin is quite attractive in hand. I feel very fortunate to have landed this white whale for my collection. Domitian; 81-96 AD, Rome, 81 AD, Denarius, 3.36g. Obv: IMP CAES DOMITIAN AVG PONT Head laureate r. Rev: P P COS VII - DES VIII Wreath on curule chair. RIC-8 (R2), pl. 117 Ex: Curtis Clay collection Ex Harlan Berk Bid or Buy sale #224 Lot # 140

A fantastic coin David! Just wonderful!

Fantastic acquisition David!!!! Congratulations. This is a once in a lifetime coin.

I agree but Santa hasn’t visitors here yet!

Fantastic coin David. Congrats on a superb acquisition.

…and of course for coining the phrase “snake cowboy”.I knew I had to find one of those…and I did! It is one of my favourite coins from my collection.

Wow David that Victory is beautiful!

While I respect your opinion I must disagree. Check out the auctions where the collections of famous individuals come across the block. In many cases the association will demand higher prices. There are times where the collector is an important factor in who bids for coins and how much they will pay. Have you tried to get a coin from the John Adams collection lately? Augustus was said to have been a coin collector. Are you telling me that a coin once owned by Augustus should not have a premium over a similar coin not owned by him? Famous collections attract attention from collectors because of a mystique connected to an object once owned by a particular person or because of the quality of the curation involved in assembling the colllection.

Indeed so! Please everyone else ignore this provenance. It is not important at all. Okay sarcasm off. This is one of the most important collections of Flavian rarities I have ever seen. There were many PONT denarii of Domitian in this sale. There have been times when I have waited more than a year for one to come to auction. This is a world class collection and it’s like may not come to market again for years.