Sestertius - Domitian TR P COS VII DES VIII P P S C, Minerva

Domitian's early sestertii of 81 AD were struck in the final months of Titus's reign or the immediate aftermath of his death in September of that year — the tribunician and consular dating places this piece at a transitional moment when the new emperor was consolidating authority with conspicuous speed. Domitian had waited over a decade in his brother's shadow, and the coin output of his first regnal year reflects a man determined to establish a distinct identity rather than continue Flavian dynastic continuity.

His particular devotion to Minerva was not casual piety. Ancient sources, including Suetonius, record that Domitian kept a shrine to her and consulted her in dreams. She would remain his patron deity throughout a reign that ended with his assassination in 96 AD.