Domitian, as Caesar, 69-81. Aureus (Gold, 19 mm, 7.38 g, 6 h), Rome, 77-78. CAESAR AVG F DOMITIANVS Laureate head of Domitian to right. Rev. COS V Captive kneeling to right, extending his left hand and offering vexillum with his right in an act of submission. Antike Kunst (1967), pl. 52, 491 (this coin, but with the description of no. 492 = lot 300 in our catalogue). BMC 231. Calicó 819. Cohen 48. RIC 959. A wonderful piece, beautifully struck with a lovely portrait and an exceptional reverse. Good extremely fine.


In 75, the Parthian King Vologases I applied to Vespasian for help against an Alan invasion (Cass. Dio. 65.15.3). However, the emperor declined and a full-scale war between the two superpowers was only avoided through the careful maneuvering of Marcus Ulpius Trajanus, the governor of Syria and father of the future emperor, Trajan. The reverse of this beautiful aureus likely refers to these events by copying an Augustan type that commemorated the recovery of Crassus' legionary eagles from the Parthians almost a full century earlier.