Semis S C, Apollo

Domitian's reign saw a deliberate revival of the smaller bronze denominations — the semis and quadrans — that had largely fallen out of regular production under his predecessors. The reintroduction was almost certainly administrative rather than economic, part of a broader effort to regularize the Roman coinage system after the disruptions of 69 AD and the Flavian consolidation. The S C mark confirms senatorial authorization, though by this period that formality carried more ceremonial than practical weight.

RIC II.1 313 is a reasonably well-documented type but survives in far smaller numbers than the contemporary sestertii and dupondii — the semis simply didn't circulate in the volumes that ensured survival.