RIC 240 Domitian

Æ Quadrans, 2.55g
Rome Mint, 84-85 AD
Obv: IMP DOMIT AVG GERM; Minerva head, helmeted, r.
Rev: S C in field; Olive branch
RIC 240 (C). BMC 491. BNC 525.
Acquired from NumisCorner, February 2022.

Domitian struck a fairly large issue of undated quadrantes early in his reign. RIC places them within the 84-85 time period based on Domitian titled as 'Germanicus' ('GERM' - which could only be post 83) and before 85 (after which all these small issues were dated). RIC also speculates many of these quadrantes were struck 'al marco', i.e. by batch weight, because of the variable weights encountered on many specimens. Domitian's patron deity Minerva features prominently on the obverse of this quadrans and is paired with an olive branch, the symbol of peace.

The quadrans in the early imperial period typically lacked an imperial portrait. Tariffed at a quarter of an As, the denomination was possibly deemed too lowly by mint officials to warrant a portrait. They were struck haphazardly and functioned primarily as an urban low value coinage in Rome and central Italy. The quadrans was the typical fee for entry into the baths, a urinal, or for a tryst in a cheap brothel. Being of rather low value quadrantes were not typically hoarded and thus are relatively scarce today being virtually absent from site finds outside central and south-central Italy (in contrast, over 1,827 quadrantes have been found at Pompeii).