Dupondius - Domitian ROMA S C, Roma

Domitian's early bronze coinage of 82 AD falls within his first full year as emperor following Titus's death in September 81 — a succession unmarred by contest but shadowed by his notoriously strained relationship with the Senate. The ROMA S C bronzes of this period reflect his aggressive reassertion of Flavian authority, including the restoration of the censorship he would later hold permanently from 85 AD onward. RIC II.1 839 is assigned to the Rome mint under the reorganized Flavian bronze sequence, where dupondii of this year are distinguished from sestertii primarily by their orichalcum versus bronze composition — a distinction that corrosion and patination can obscure on unexamined pieces.