Is that a thunderbolt on her shield?
AR Denarius (19mm, 3.48g, 6h). Rome mint, struck 88-89 (Group 2c), bjhhi.
IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERMANIC COS XIIII, head laureate right; CENS P P P across field, Flavian Minerva cult statue standing left, with thunderbolt and spear, shield at her left side (M3).
RIC 568 (R2), BMC 139 (same dies), RSC 27.
Ex NAC.
Domitian is definitely smiling on this one, or is that just a milk moustache?
The usual pellet or pellets on the shield, a convention engravers employed to indicate a detail too intricate to adequately portray in such a small space--in this case I used to think snakes, but now I'm considering a second inappropriate thunderbolt--are more elaborate than usual on this coin. Let your cursor hover over the image to allow the magnifier to kick in and you will see what I mean.
