The so called ‘PONT’ denarii struck by Domitian during his first few months as emperor are highly prized by collectors. These coins have obverse legends without the usual pontifex maximus (P M) title, but instead have Domitian as only ponifex (PONT). Needless to say, they are quite rare! Here’s my latest addition from the series.
Domitian’s early PONT denarii are what I would call a personal ‘grail issue’ – not any one coin would necessarily be termed a ‘grail’ in and of itself, but the PONT issue as a whole could be considered as such. They are fairly scarce and offer an intriguing window into Domitian’s early evolving title sequence. I recently acquired one at auction belonging to the extremely rare Group two issue of denarii struck in 81.
Flavian Fanatic 