RIC 647 Domitian

Æ As, 11.04g
Rome mint, 88-89 AD
Obv: IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM COS XIIII CENS PER P P; Head of Domitian, laureate, bearded, r.
Rev: FIDEI PVBLICAE; S C in field; Fides stg. r., with corn ears and plate of fruits
RIC 647 (R). BMC -. BNC 451.
Acquired from London Ancient Coins, June 2020.

Fides holding a plate of fruits was a recurring type under Domitian until 88. This fairly rare Fides Publica dated COS XIIII was the last appearance of it under Domitian. It copies a similar reverse struck for Vespasian and must have held some special meaning to Domitian. H Mattingly in BMCRE II (p. xci) speculated on the importance of Fides to Domitian: 'The word "Fides" has a wide scope and includes the ideas that we express by the words "loyalty", "integrity", "honour". Probably "credit", in a wide sense, is the nearest English equivalent. If, as seems probable, the type is closely associated with the Emperor's activities as censor, we can at once understand its popularity under Domitian. The censorship of Domitian is usually represented as a device to secure control of the composition of the senate. But this was only part of its significance. Domitian was simply carrying on from his father Vespasian the policy of close attention to the business affairs of the state and, in making himself censor for life, he was offending susceptibilities rather than serious interests. In view of the care of Domitian for the Italian land we can perhaps explain the "agricultural" attributes of "Fides". It appears certain that the Flavians developed a financial policy of great importance, of which only the barest hints have come down to us. The fact that a festival of Fides fell on the first day of October, the month which was rechristened "Domitianus" in A.D. 84, lends further appropriateness to the type.'

Missing from the BM's extensive collection.