Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 125 23-24 Jun 2021
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Domitian augustus, 81 - 96.
Aureus 82–83, AV 7.74 g. IMP CAES DOMITIANVS AVG P M Laureate head of Domitian r. Rev. DOMITIA AVGVSTA IMP DOMIT Draped bust of Domitia r. C Domitian and Domitia 3. BMC 58. RIC 210. CBN 58. Calicó 943b.
Very rare and in unusually fine condition for this difficult issue. Two superb portraits
of fine style perfectly centred on a large flan. Minor area of weakness on
reverse, otherwise extremely fine
Ex Busso Peus 351, 1997, 697 and NAC 101, 2017, Ploil, 227 sales.
Like the aurei depicting Divus Vespasian and Domitilla, this piece was issued by Domitian early in his reign to honour a royal lady of the Flavian dynasty. However, the two issues have a completely different flavour: the one of Vespasian and Domitilla honours the dead, and this one celebrates the living. In this case the portraits are Domitian himself and his wife Domitia, who at the time was alive and held the title of Augusta. That title had also been awarded to two other Flavian women, Domitian's deceased sister Domitilla and his niece Julia Titi, who in the future would succumb, tragically, to a romance with her uncle, only to consequently die of what seems to have been a botched abortion. Uncle and niece were already engaged in their love affair when this coin was struck, though their attachment remained hidden from the public until after Domitian divorced and banished his wife in about 83. Hence, this aureus was hardly a reflection of a blissful marriage, but rather an insincere representation of a royal marriage that was, at the moment of this coin's striking, on the brink of collapse.
Aureus 82–83, AV 7.74 g. IMP CAES DOMITIANVS AVG P M Laureate head of Domitian r. Rev. DOMITIA AVGVSTA IMP DOMIT Draped bust of Domitia r. C Domitian and Domitia 3. BMC 58. RIC 210. CBN 58. Calicó 943b.
Very rare and in unusually fine condition for this difficult issue. Two superb portraits
of fine style perfectly centred on a large flan. Minor area of weakness on
reverse, otherwise extremely fine
Ex Busso Peus 351, 1997, 697 and NAC 101, 2017, Ploil, 227 sales.
Like the aurei depicting Divus Vespasian and Domitilla, this piece was issued by Domitian early in his reign to honour a royal lady of the Flavian dynasty. However, the two issues have a completely different flavour: the one of Vespasian and Domitilla honours the dead, and this one celebrates the living. In this case the portraits are Domitian himself and his wife Domitia, who at the time was alive and held the title of Augusta. That title had also been awarded to two other Flavian women, Domitian's deceased sister Domitilla and his niece Julia Titi, who in the future would succumb, tragically, to a romance with her uncle, only to consequently die of what seems to have been a botched abortion. Uncle and niece were already engaged in their love affair when this coin was struck, though their attachment remained hidden from the public until after Domitian divorced and banished his wife in about 83. Hence, this aureus was hardly a reflection of a blissful marriage, but rather an insincere representation of a royal marriage that was, at the moment of this coin's striking, on the brink of collapse.