At the risk of flooding the board and boring you all to death... I do have a few more interesting purchases after this one to share but will save them for another day. Now for another recent purchase. More towards my normal collecting focus but a bit out there too. This coin was sold to me by a major dealer as a regular COS II - Emesa coin, which to anyone with a slight knowledge of the series is too wild even for the ecclectic styles from this series. Barbarous Denarius Obv:– L SEPT SEVE PERT AVG IMP VIII, laureate head right Rev:– MONE AVG, Moneta standing left, holding scales and cornucopiae Barbarous copy imitating coins minted in Laodicea-ad-Mare. A.D. 196-197 Reference:– Copies similar to BMC 448 Note (citing Cohen 332 (no authority cited)) and RIC - (cf 484(a) (rated S)) and Cohen 332 It would appear to be copying something similar to the following Laodicea coin. Septimius Severus Denarius - RIC - Obv:– L SEPT SEVER PERT - AVG IMP VIII, Laureate head right Rev:– MONET AVG, Moneta standing left, holding scales and cornucopiae Minted in Laodicea-ad-Mare. A.D. 196 - 197 Reference:– BMC 448 Note (citing Cohen 332 (no authority cited)). RIC - (cf 484(a) (rated S)). Cohen 332
Below are my 2017 added barbarous but silver Severans (not fourrees or anima). These were identified as barbarous by the seller but the lot included a few coins that I consider regular mint products. Getting all to agree on where too draw that line will be hard.
Haha, ever thought of that. Coins like that, shown to grade school kids, would get a kick out of something like that, vampires and what not, as well as introduce them to ancients.
Hey, hey, hey! It's not nice to make fun of other people's coins! Don't listen to them, Doug. I think you coin looks very [snicker] stylish.
Now it is time for the rest of the story. That portrait of Septimius is the only remaining proof of the real appearance of the emperor. Most of his coins were spiffied up to appeal to the fashionable Romans who expected their rulers to be .... well, human. Septimius adopted himself into the family of Marcus Aurelius, history says, but there is numismatic proof that he was blood relations to Antoninus Pius and Faustina I. Further there is considerable evidence that his family tree included Tiberius of Tribute Penny fame. Anyone who believes anything they read here really need to avoid making purchases or signing legal documents. Barbarous coins can be fun. The Tiberius shown here is one of a group found in india all from the same dies. You can find one of those if you look hard enough since one sells very decade or so. The others are unique as far as I know but there are thousands of other barbarous coins for people who appreciate the weird. Most common are the ones we call Barbarous Radiates copying the Gallic Emperors. Some of them are hard to pin down as to just what they copied.
