I Gambled and Lost

[David Atherton]

I took a chance with this one.

Domitian achieved tribunician power for the 16th time on 14 September 96 AD. He was assassinated in a palace plot four days later on 18 September. In between those two dates the mint struck only one issue of denarii recording Domitian as TR P XVI, needless to say they are extremely rare! The Senate decreed Damnatio Memoriae within a day of Domitian's assassination which would have quickly halted production at the mint for his coinage. I believed this coin to be one of those elusive TR P XVI denarii. Read below to find out why I was wrong. 😞

 

 

Domitian
AR Denarius, 2.96g
Rome mint, 95-96 AD
Obv: IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM P M TR P XV; Head of Domitian, laureate, bearded, r.
Rev: IMP XXII COS XVII CENS P P P; Minerva stg. l., with thunderbolt and spear, shield at her l. side (M3)
RIC 789 (C2). BMC 234. RSC 291. BNC 208.
Acquired from Aegean, January 2024.
 

I purchased this coin on a hunch that this could possibly could be RIC 819 due to a reverse die match with the Paris TR P XVI specimen (BNC 213) and crucially what appears to be a 'I' engraved above the 'V'. Unfortunately, in hand the mystery numeral is just a die flaw. At least I didn't pay too much for it!

Do you have a numismatic 'mistake'? Misery loves company, I'd love to see it. 🙂

Thank you for looking!

Edited January 25 by David Atherton

[CPK]

Too bad! But it was worth the chance. At least, as you say, it wasn't very expensive.

I'll admit I once put a bid on what probably should have been an obvious fake, but thankfully (for me, anyway) I was outbid at the last moment. Described thus by the auction house:

DOMITIAN (Caesar, 69-81). Sestertius. Rome.

Weight : 19.03 gr
Diameter : 32 mm

 

[ambr0zie]

@CPK - that was indeed an obvious fake. I was also initially thrilled about the idea of an unlisted Domitian sestertius. After a quick check and a confirmation from the specialists... it was pretty clear. 

I don't think I made too many mistakes or at least I like to think this. But here is a recent one that was a little different than what I was expecting. 

When seeing this I instantly remembered the type was discussed by our Faustina specialist. What I remembered - "a rare Faustina type". What it actually was - "the most common and popular Faustina denarius". Oh well. I do not regret this at all as the coin is beautiful and it was not expensive. 

[Finn235]

It sure as heck looks like an extra I above the V! Is that a feature in the handful of known coins?

I made the cardinal sin of bidding not entirely sober on this one - totally missed that it was a fourree until it hammered! Thought it was horn silver, nor copper. Thankfully all the other bidders had their wits, so I won it at a reasonable price for a fourree of a nice issue.

[David Atherton]

1 hour ago, Finn235 said:

It sure as heck looks like an extra I above the V! Is that a feature in the handful of known coins?

I made the cardinal sin of bidding not entirely sober on this one - totally missed that it was a fourree until it hammered! Thought it was horn silver, nor copper. Thankfully all the other bidders had their wits, so I won it at a reasonable price for a fourree of a nice issue.

IMHO, that is a pretty nifty mistake. You don't see plated examples of that type very often!

[kirispupis]

I purchased this coin because I felt reasonably confident at the time I could place it at Myrmekion due to its similarity with the types of Pantikapaion and Phanagoria.

Ionia, Myos
c. 3rd century BCE
Æ 9mm, 1.22g, 9h
Turreted female head r. R/
Bow and arrow.
Imhoof, KM p. 90, 3

 

However, after further investigation I determined this to be not possible. It's still an interesting coin, though, and I currently suspect it may belong to Mytilene.

[Amarmur]

I screwed up when buying this Bactrian drachm of Eucratides. The details are nice, but it doesn't fit in my collecting interests, and it is crystallized.  I will probably sell it if anyone is interested in it. idk I like it but idk is crystallization like a death sentence for silvers like bronze disease for coppers? The thing is if it wasn't crystallized it would have been like a $500+ coin.