I saw a recent thread on official and unofficial fakes I figured I would take the opportunity to fish more comments on this coin. Any further information on this would be great. I also accept guesses and conjecture. Please feel free to comment. This coin would like his own flip and to be upgraded from his current sock drawer home. Septimius Severus (2.88g) Appears to be debased silver. (Billon) obv. Severus Alexander ? SEVERVOAVO? PART ? MAX rev. Athena Spear/ Shield ? IMP LIIII ? OIII PP
Well, it does look like billon, and the devices are "off" enough to suggest a barbarous issue. What I've noticed about the barbarous coins, though, is the dead giveaway is in the legends. Frequently the makers of the coins were illiterate, so the legends end up as nonsense. I want to say Jabberwocky, but Jabberwocky actually makes sense in non-sensical sort of way. A lot of the barbarous issues just have random letter and numbers, although the SEVER part of the obverse legend suggests an attempt to get it right. (You asked for any and all comments, so I have to include the disclaimer that I'm new to ancients and could easily be way off track.)
The SEVERVS AVG PART MAX legend is pretty well executed. The reverse legend is less well done. It would certainly appear to be a contemporary, barbarous imitation in pretty good style. The silver seems more debased than official issues but that isn't really a surprise either. Nice one. Regards, Martin
The original reverse is PM TRP (II-IIII) COS II PP from Rome over a period of three years but this one has a later obverse completely inappropriate for use with the reverse. The reverse starting with IMP is just another sign of the coin being unofficial. The coin is either barbarous or modern fake (probably ancient but I never swear on these). The type was also issued from Alexandria with that mint's only obverse legend which is much more rare so I'll show it here. Rome did not issue that reverse in 193 so the obverse legend separates the mints even if you don't recognize the style. These from Rome are usually struck on small flans and missing some legend. I don't have a nice one to show but Rome mint was never my major concentration. Before replying here I looked online for a nice one and failed to find it. The years 194-196 saw Septimius out of town on business (Niger, Albinus and Parthians) so the mint was really sloppy.
Hey Doug thanks for the response. I have heard the term "Limes Denarius" thrown around about this coin. A coin minted by a traveling mint in some far flung reach of the empire. Based on your response, I would suspect this is not the case. I would like to think nice barbie rather than modern fake. The coin in hand looks struck to me. I don't see a seam or any of the other signs of the process. The coin has a surface consistent with the the porosity of ancient debased silver. Could this be one of those so called "Limes" or would you suspect that the legend discrepancy rules that out? In the end I still think the coin has numis-interest. :yes:
I think so as well. I have a coin that is called a mule which, to me, has the same interest as most of my other coins.
I would not use the term "limes" or "limes-falsa" in association with this coin. I suspect it is an ancient barbie. It does indeed have numismatic interest. They are not well studied and we don't know much about where they come from, how they were made or why they were made. In fact in many cases each of these could be different. Were they ancient counterfeits made to deceive? Were they local currency based loosely on Roman coins that were available to copy in the non-Roman world? The questions go on and on and there are more questions than answers. I have a few in my collection out of pure interest and now attempt to get eastern imitations when/if I see them.
Mules are official mint products where the obverse and reverse dies from different issues have been used to make a coin in error. Many limes are cast with non-matching obverses and reverses. Why? Martin
I'll offer two theories. (1) The people who made them did not know any better, read Latin or care. (2) The people who made them wanted to distance themselves and those who might know from the bad coins and something like a mismatch would give away the 'problem' coins to all but the rubes for whom they were intended. Of course I have a page: http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/feac13.html
