I continue to add to my Eastern earlier issues of Septimius Severus whenever I find something slightly different. I am going to bore you all now with some of the minutiae of my speciality..... The "Victory advancing left, holding wreath and palm" type is common enough with two entries allocated in RIC based upon whether the obverse legend is PERTE (RIC 461a) or PERET (RIC 461b). There are sub-variations that appeal to a specialist like myself with regards to how the obverse legend breaks e.g. the normal P-ERET and P-ERTE vs the less common PE-RET and PE-RTE or IMP II vs IMP I-I vs IMP - II. None of these legend breaks impact on RIC number. There are a number of reverse dies with diverse legend breaks too though I think that attempting a proper study of all die combinations would be a work of many years. I have just obtained a new minor variation where the engraver has missed an R on the reverse leading to VICTO AVG. Nothing earth shattering but adds to the range to possibilities in an eventual die study. Here is my newest coin:- Obv:– L SEPT SEV P-ERET AVG IMP I - I, laureate head right Rev:– VICT-O (sic) A-VG, Victory advancing left, holding wreath and palm Minted in Laodicea-ad-Mare. A.D. 194-5 Reference:– BMCRE - (cf 436 which is PERET and IMP I-I with VICTOR). RIC - (cf 461b) Weight 2.25g. 18.95mm. 0 degrees Some other of mine.... P-ERTE - RIC 461a Obv:– L SEPT SEV P-ERTE AVG IMP II, Laureate head right Rev:– VICT-O-R A-VG, Victory advancing left, holding wreath and palm References:– RSC 698a. BMCRE W434. Weight 2.16g. 18.86mm. 0 degrees P-ERET - RIC 461b Obv:– L SEPT SEV P-ERET AVG IMP II, laureate head right Rev:– VICTO-R AVG, Victory advancing left, holding wreath and palm Reference:– BMCRE cf W436 which is PERET and IMP I-I Obv:– L SEPT SEV P-ERET AVG IMP I - I, laureate head right Rev:– VICT-O-R AVG, Victory advancing left, holding wreath and palm Reference:– BMCRE W436 Rev:– VICT-OR AVG, Victory advancing left, holding wreath and palm Weight 3.18g. 18.78mm. 180 degrees Obv:– L SEPT SEV P-ERET AVG IMP - II, laureate head right Rev:– VICTO-R AVG, Victory advancing left, holding wreath and palm Reference:– BMCRE cf W436 which is PERET and IMP I-I Weight 2.25g. 17.95mm. 0 degrees There are other, less common Victory types from this issue. CNG sold a "Victory standing right, right foot on helmet, holding palm and inscribing S C upon shield set on column" back in 2003. CGB had one for sale since 2004 but it is a bit rich for my blood. There are a couple of these in the British Museum collection. There is also a "Victory walking right, holding wreath in left hand, trophy in right" type. Obv:– L SEPT SEV PE-RET AVG IMP - II, Laureate head right Rev:– VIC-T-O-R AVG, Victory walking right, holding wreath in left hand, trophy in right Minted in Laodicea-ad-Mare, A.D. 194 References:– RIC -. BMCRE -. RSC -. Ex Barry Murphy Collection Obv:– L SEPT SEV PE-RET AVG IMP -II, laureate head right Rev:– VICT-O-R AVG, Victory walking right, holding wreath in left hand, trophy in right Minted in Laodicea-ad-Mare. A.D. 196 Reference(s) – BMCRE -. RIC -. RSC - Martin
Going just a bit further, RIC is very poor at listing all the spelling variations mentioned (PERET, PERTE etc.) for every reverse. Martin specializes in the IMP Laodicea series a great deal more than I do. I have more of the COS 'Emesa' coins. I believe that, between us, we could show twice the coins listed in RIC for Alexandria, Emesa and Laodicea. It is always a question where to draw the line regarding letter spacings and dots. Should RIC have listed these as they do in some volumes? We are pretty certain that there is a meaning to some or all of these variations but knowing what the meaning is is another matter altogether. There is also the question of where to start calling varietal coins 'unofficial' as opposed to official mint errors or variations. We may each have different opinions on some of these matters.
That's an amazing accomplishment, @maridvnvm ! My collection of Roman denarii totals 25 and I was debating whether or not I should purchase any more. I'm going to have to re-think this.
500 denarii of Sept. Severus from Eastern mints sounds like serious study material. Some day I'll have to post my meager group of Severus coins, most of which are larger than denarii. The total number of coins minted with the image of Sept. Severus must be astounding! Have you tried to guesstimate the total mintage of his Eastern denarri from the examples you have?
