Septimius Severus Sestertius, Securitas Seated: Overstruck? Die-clash?

A new Septimius Severus sestertius (say that 3 times fast) recently came my way and I was hoping for a little help with it.

First off, I can't find another example of it - OCRE has one noted, but no examples. It is RIC IV 729a, with laureate head (no drapery or cuirass) right and Securitas seated left. numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.4.ss.729a

The closest I came is an MAShops (Münzhandlung André Cichos) example. This one has a loop of "slight drapery" so it is not really a "head only" type. https://www.ma-shops.com/cichos/item.php?id=8285

The only other "head only" type I found was an unlisted dupondius (radiate crown): https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=1757089

This type with a draped and cuirassed bust is RIC IV 729c is described by OCRE as laureate, draped and "sometimes cuirassed." This draped and cuirassed type is scarce too - OCRE has none, but I found a couple online, auctions, etc. Here is one at Marc Breitsprecher's site: https://mrbcoins.com/cgi-bin/lotinfo.pl?id=56935 Here is the British Museum example: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_R-15750

Here is mine - head only (20.59 grams / 28 mm):



My question has to do with the reverse. What is going on here? At first I thought it was a a strike-over or double-strike from the same dies. But what is that S doing in the field? The "original" coin clearly has the SC in the exergue. (Note some of the cuirassed types have the SC in the fields, not exergue - see Breitsprecher example above). Also, Severus's beard on the obverse is faintly doubled. More photos:



So is this struck over another type altogether? Something like this happening on Postumus sestertii I've seen, but does this happen on Severan sestertii?

Any clarifications greatly appreciated. And if there are any other SS Securitas seated sestertii out there, I'd love to see another one.

 

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This is not a common coin - I will add to this later as I made a short study of this type not long ago.

 

Thank you @Blake Davis - I was hoping you'd weigh in on this puzzler.

 

And of course I forgot to respond -I owned an example, foolishly sold, and saw another one for sale in much better condition. These are quite rare - so rare that one of them if part of the beautiiful examples from the Curtis Clay collection that is being auction off in two months - I am feverishly begging, borrowing and what not for this sale.

So your is one, the one sold, the one I saw and the Curtis Clay example is all of four. If you look in RIC most of the VIII coins are rare - the Rome mint was gearing up for ceasing to strike all but a few bronze coins. As for your specific questions - it is 1:40 pm as I write this and I have to go to work tomorrow so it will have to be supplemented later - but this is a fantastic find in my opinion. The sestertii of Septimius seem to have maybe alot very common types - the 3 Moneta, Africa, VIIII soldier leading horse and many many rarites. But "common" is a relative terms ACSEARCH has all of 50 or so examples sold since 1999 - not exactly common. And what is common one day can disappear the next and something else become common - Caracalla sestertii with Securitas reverse for example - for the last few years these are all over the place. Why? Same with Cleopatra bronzes - I saw one go for less than $200 recently - no great condition but it would have sold for four times that five years ago. Why so many? No clue. Maybe some digger will find a a hoard of four thousand Titus sestertii with the Colosseum on the reverse. But then again we wouldn't know because these would be slowly sold over time.

 

I cannot account for the "S" - a mistake - I have to check the Clay example and ACSEARCH

 

Thank you for all this additional information, Blake. I do appreciate it.

Yes to that - those Cleopatra bronzes are showing up on eBay a lot recently (too much for my budget). Nero tetradrachms from Egypt are showing up in quantity as well - they've never been hard to get, but there are tons of them recently (which has made the price come down). Hoards, I suppose.

 

too many typos - should not be doing this as 1:40am!

 

I commented on the type but not the oddity on the reverse. I cannot account for it but sometimes the reverse of another the same coin get stuck on the die and the next coin get struck - I had an Antoninus Pius sestertius that had this that I consigned on CNG and it didn't do well at auction - not that this would have the same luck - this is a really terrific example - probably caused by the speed with which these were done. The "S" here does resemble the "S" at the bottom of the reverse - looks like the hammer came down before the next blank came in and this one was still on the die - maybe the guy with the hammer was playing games with the guy who put in the blank -

 

Thank you @Blake Davis for your attention to this strange coin. Your explanation for the double-strike makes a lot of sense to me.

 

It is quite a coincidence that the type that I was going to make the center piece of a planned article on rarity is the coin that you purchased. We don’t know why the Rome mint stopped striking bronzes - I think they needed the workers to focus on silver to pay the soldiers - but it led to wonderful bronzes being struck in large numbers in the provincial mints. This was the high point of numismatic artistry in bronze at the provincial mints in my opinion. I wonder why there weren’t more mints in Gaul and Africa?

 

I really wish I could go back and correct these typos! 1:40am not PM and a bunch of others -

 

Typos or not, I really appreciate your help with my coin! Thanks Blake!

 

This has been a fascinating thread. Thank you for sharing your acquisition @Marsyas Mike.
I came across a double struck sestertius, this one of Faustina II.
Faustina II AE Sestertius. 19,80g, 33mm.
DIVA FAV-STINA PIA, draped bust right / SIDERIBVS RECEPTA S-C, Faustina as Diana, standing right, holding long torch across body with both hands, crescent behind neck. RIC 1715, Cohen 215. SEAR 1988 # 1530
Commemorative issue struck under Aurelius, circa
175/6 AD.
Reverse struck twice with clear images of two torches and two S of SC.

 

That's a very dramatic double-strike. Very nice!

 

Your post is precisely why I like this site so much and really enjoy posting - I wish I had more time since I have more articles planned including:

1. 199AD the year the Rome Mint almost ceased striking bronze coins
2. The many faces of Caracalla
3. Rarity - another discussion on a favorite topic
4. Is it me or does it appear that there are less people collecting ancient coins?
5. Why collecting ancient coins is and will always be the coolest hobby in existence
6. Is the collecting obsession based on heredity or environment? (maybe not this one - been watching Trading Places too often)

And some questions - how to get lacquer off of ancient coins? How to get verdigris off a really nice coin and something that will stir up controversy - how to patinate a coin? Along with the usual where the heck were these coins struck!

Yes, posting the titles are meaningless - I just have to find the time!!

 

Acetone

sodium bicarbonate

Jax

 

I have not seen good results with Jax. The British metal detecting organization has a terrific site on coin patination but the methods involve some extremely toxic chemicals. At one time I thought maybe I would try to patinate coins using the methods on the British site but my son, who knows alot about chemistry, took one look at one of the chemicals I bought for the work, told me that if I got any in my eyes I would go instantly blind, then put it in a box in a box in a box and wrote “ deadly chemical” on the outside with a skull and crossbones.

That was it for me even though I bought protective equipment - I did not have a way to adequately vent the area I would be working in. So that ended the effort - no idea what to do with chemicals I bought -