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RIC 544 Domitian
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Æ As, 11.52g
Rome mint, 87 AD
Obv: IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM COS XIII CENS PER P P; Head of Domitian, laureate, bearded, r.
Rev: FORTVNAE AVGVSTI; S C in field; Fortuna stg. l., with rudder and cornucopiae
RIC 544 (C3). BMC 401. BNC 431.
Acquired from Witter Coins, eBay, July 2020.
Fortuna was a very popular reverse type on Domitian's coinage. She featured on the his first denarii struck after the coinage reform of 82 and would later become a regular type on the bronzes. This common As from 87 shows Fortuna with her familiar attributes of a rudder, with which she steers the world, and a cornucopiae representing the rich bounty she brings. Domitian must have felt some sort of special obligation to Fortuna and repaid it by featuring her cult image on his coinage.
This coin is struck in fine 'Flavian baroque' style, similar to the contemporary denarii.
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