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Valerius--

Right-- I actually noticed your earlier post on the Newbie Caesar. The point I was trying to make is that the Times and BBC reporting on this issue has been rather sloppy. The thrust of both stories is that Domitianus is a "new" Caesar, previously unrecorded, which is not the case. The Times even claims the previously known coin of Domitianus was "believed to be a forgery," but this is also not the case-- RIC and most scholars accepted it as genuine, as it came from a recorded hoard.

I would imagine the publicity means more coins of Domitianus will start to show up, because people will start scrutinizing coins in mid-third century Gallic hoards more closely (and because the Bulgarian forgers will start cranking out fakes!). On first glance, the Domitianus piece could easily be passed over as another late Postumus, Victorinus or Tetricus issue. There are hundreds, if not thousands of Gallic Empire coins found every year, and the legends on these pieces are often difficult to decipher.

I'd also like to point out that the fact we know the context of the Domitianus coin, and can therefor confirm its authenticity, is a tribute to Britain's enlightened Treasure Trove law.
In many countries, metal detectoring in search of ancient artifacts (derided as "treasure hunting" by many academics) is flat-out illegal, and any coins or artifacts found in this manner are liable to seized by the government and the finder arrested. That doesn't really discourage the practice, it just forces it underground, so that the context of many finds simply goes unreported. Britain seeks to regulate the practice, rather than banning it outright, and as a result many important finds by private individuals are reported to the authorities and the local experts notified, so that the context and content of the find are properly recorded.

T. Flavius Crispus
Legio VI Victrix Pia Fidelis
California, USA

Ave, Dan!

It sounds like you've got an example of the extremely rare Trajan "Port of Ostia" sestertius. Nero struck one in the mid 60s, showing an bird's eye view of a circular harbor, ships, and other interesting architectural details. It marked the completion of his adoptive father's rebuilding of Ostia to provide a winter harbor for Rome. Unfortunately, the new harbor also proved vulnerable to bad weather, so Trajan underook another rebuilding sometime after the Dacian wars. He, too, marked the project with a coin, this time showing a polygon-shaped harbor. There are probably fewer than 20-30 examples of this type recorded, so it's highly sought-after by collectors of architectural reverse types.

When I get back to the office Monday, I'll give you some reference numbers on the coin and some examples of sales prices achieved at auction.

Dan, where are you now? I'm coming over to Munich next week (Thursday, to be exact) and might have a free day or two to do some traveling. I'll be in town to pick up a couple of extremely exciting artifacts, including a complete muscle cuirass! Any chance of getting together? Failing that, are there any reenactors or purveyors of Roman stuff in the vicinity of Munich you could turn me on to? You can contact me off-list at palladium@aol.com. Or, if you feel like spending some of those inflated euros, my phone numbers are (310) 450-8634 (days,work) and (661) 753-9771 (evenings).

T. Flavius Crispus
Legio VI Victrix Pia Fidelis
California, USA