Domitian, 81-96. Quinarius (Subaeratus, 15 mm, 1.24 g, 5 h), a contemporary plated imitation from an irregular mint, after 81-82. IMP CAES DOMITIANVS AVG P M Laureate head of Domitian to right. Rev. VICTORIA AVGVSTI Victory seated left, holding wreath in her right hand and palm in her left. Cf. BMC 57, Cohen 625 and RIC 118 (for prototype). Very rare as a plated quinarius. Breaks in plating and minor deposits, otherwise, very fine.


After Augustus, quinarii were struck only sporadically until the 3rd century. This makes the present subaerate quinarius all the more remarkable, especially as it is executed in excellent style. The considerable effort involved in producing such a convincing forgery of a small silver denomination that was only rarely encountered in daily circulation is striking.