Denarius - Domitian IMP XIIII COS XIII CENS P P P, Minerva

Domitian's censorial title CENS P P P — Censor Perpetuus, adopted in 85 AD — reflects his unprecedented claim to permanent censorship, an office traditionally held on fixed terms. No emperor before him had arrogated it in perpetuity, and the Senate's discomfort with the title was one thread in the accumulating resentments that ended with his assassination in 96 AD. The IMP XIIII acclamation dates this piece to 87, a year of renewed military pressure on the Danube frontier against the Dacians and Sarmatians.

Domitian also restored the silver fineness of the denarius to near-Neronian standards, reversing Vespasian's modest debasements — a monetary policy that held until Trajan's reign.