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Unique and Unlisted Domitian Caesar Sestertius


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Common coins give a collection scope, rarities give it depth. My latest is a fine example of the latter.

 

 

T58-60511.jpg.4bdb6401ccfc0c1dd51b66f1dcabe053.jpg
Domitian as Caesar [Titus]
Æ Sestertius, 25.95g
Rome mint, 79 AD
Obv: CAESAR AVG F DOMITIANVS COS VI; Head of Domitian, laureate, bearded, r.
Rev: S C in field; Spes stg. l., with flower
Cf. RIC 58-60/511 (for obv./rev.). BMC -. BNC -.
Ex Harlan J Berk BBS 225, 30 November 2023, lot 119. Ex Curtis Clay Collection. Ex CNG E281, 20 June 2012, lot 305.

All the sestertii struck under Titus in 79 are rare. This unique and unlisted Spes variety struck for Domitian Caesar is from his first bronze issue of the reign (a carry-over type from Vespasian's coinage). It's an obverse die matched with the issue's Pax (RIC 59) and Mars (RIC 60) types, all of which are contemporaneous reverses struck for Titus. Curtis Clay has proposed this small issue of Domitian Caesar sestertii are consistent with the Thracian mint's style and fabric (convex reverses) and likely belong to that mint's first output under Titus.

In hand.

 

Thanks for looking!

Edited by David Atherton
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4 minutes ago, JAZ Numismatics said:

The reverse has so much more detail than what you would expect from the still image. Congratulations on a superb find!

Thanks! 

In the recent Ancient Coin Podcast on YouTube Aaron Berk discusses the reasons why dealers are moving to videos... pretty much why I did as well!

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Congrats David, and well said "Common coins give a collection scope, rarities give it depth." Love the portrait, and the video helps show off the reverse wonderfully. I haven't seen that episode of the Ancient Coin Podcast yet but it makes sense. We all have coins that look better in hand and it's easy to take and host high quality videos nowadays.

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