Aureus - Domitianus VICTORIA AVG, Victory

This aureus belongs to the coinage of Domitianus II, an otherwise near-phantom usurper whose existence was doubted by scholars for over a century until a single antoninianus surfaced in 1900, and whose rule over Egypt in 297–298 AD lasted only weeks before Diocletian's forces suppressed the revolt. The broader usurpation it belongs to — the rebellion of Domitianus and his predecessor Achilleus against Diocletian — required the emperor himself to besiege Alexandria for eight months before the city fell in late 298.

Gold aurei from Egyptian usurpers of this period are exceptionally rare survivors.