Watch List notes:

The Roman Empire
Domitian augustus, 81 – 96. Aureus 88, AV 7.64 g.

Description: DOMITIANVS – AVGVSTVS Laureate head r. Rev. GERMANICVS / COS XIIII Emperor in triumphal quadriga l., holding laurel-branch in r. hand and scepter in l.

References: C –
BMC 144
RIC 561
CBN 136
Calicó 837
Condition:Rare and a very interesting and historically significant issue. Struck on a full flan and extremely fine
Provenance: Credit de la Bourse sale April 1992, 40
UBS sale 78, 2008, 1581
Note: Domitian harboured an inferiority complex toward his brother and father. In the matter of military glory, the jealousy was acute: his brother had led the siege of Jerusalem, and his father had led most of the war in Judaea, and had won much glory in his earlier years, including the ornamenta triumphalia for his command in Claudius' invasion of Britain. Domitian had always been eager for a military command, and Suetonius (Domitian 1) tells us that when his father established his government in Rome, Domitian wanted glory so badly that he "planned a quite unnecessary expedition into Gaul and Germany, from which his fathers friends managed to dissuade him". In actuality, his skills in the art of war were enviable: he is said to have been able to shoot an arrow between the spread fingers of a hand without fail. His first campaign – which this well-composed issue celebrates – was against the Chatti in 83. Domitian led a perfectly successful campaign in which the Chatti were roundly defeated and the Roman border was extended beyond the Rhine. In honour of this victory Domitian was hailed Germanicus, won a triumph, and even had an arch erected. The series of coins he struck for several years are especially beautiful and imaginative compared with the rather pedestrian issues of his later years.