Denarius - Domitian TR P COS VII DES VIII P P

Struck in 81 AD, the year Domitian succeeded his brother Titus following the latter's death from fever in September. The transition was immediate and uncontested — Domitian had long chafed under both Vespasian and Titus, and ancient sources suggest he was present at Titus's deathbed under less than brotherly circumstances, though nothing was ever proven. This issue, bearing the designation COS VII DES VIII, places it precisely within the first months of his sole reign, before the consulships accumulated into the double digits that mark his later coinage.