Here is a coin ive had for a few months now. One of my goals is to get one domna from each mint and Laodicea was one of them. Still need Emesa and Alexandria, both which can get expensive. But I am in no rush to complete this little sub-set like I have others. Darker in hand. Julia Domna (194 - 217 A.D.) AR Denarius O: IVLIA AVGVSTA, draped bust right. R: CONCO-RDIA, Concordia seated left, patera in extended right, cornucopia in left. Laodicea ad Mare (Latakia, Syria) mint, 196 - 202 A.D. 2.8g 19mm RIC IV 637, Cohen 21
Nice coin. Love the highlights. This is the only one I have from this mint: JULIA DOMNA AR Denarius OBVERSE: IVLIA AVGVSTA, draped bust right REVERSE: L-AETI-TIA, Laetitia standing left, holding wreath in right hand, anchor in left Struck at Laodicea, 198-202AD 2.0g, 18mm RIC IV 641
Emesa and Alexandria are not all that difficult. All Alexandria coins are scarce except one that is only hard in high grade. It is also the only Alexandria coin with the second legend IVLIA AVGVSTA which replaced IVLIA DOMNA AVG. This VENVS FELIX coin was recognized as Alexandria later than RIC publication and many dealers still don't know it. There was a time that I (and most specialists in these) thought that we were being smart buying all we found since Alexandria was then so rare a mint. After a while, we realized that these were common enough that we should not pay too much and could hold out for nicer examples. There is, unfortunately, a major European dealer currently offering a Rome mint coin as Alexandria. Rome mint Venus Felix coins are distinguished by style and are not much easier to find in great condition. Small flans were the rule at both mints so full legend coins are premium items for this reverse.
Emesa Domna come in two variations - Venus types and reverses more commonly found with male rulers. Ordinary Venus is more common. There are even some reverse dies known that were used for both Septimius and Domna. There are common and rare coins in both groups but none are as common as the Alexandria Felix type. Those that follow are more common:
The OP coin is a nice enough example of the product of this mint. I echo Doug's comments about availability of Emesa and Alexandria coins. There are common variants from both that should be readily available given patience. Here is a coin from my collection that is the VENVS FELIX type but from the Laodicea issue just for style comparison alongside the Rome and Alexandrian issues avove. Doug illustrates a whole host of scarce types above. Most of which I don't have. I have other scarce types too but won't inflict all of them on you. The following Alexandrian coin is scarce though most people would overlook it due to condition. Obv:– IVLA (sic) DOMNA AVG, Draped bust right, hair tied in bun behind Rev:– VIRTVS AVG COS II, Roma, seated left on shield, holding Victory and spear Minted in Alexandria, A.D. 194 References:– RIC - (Unlisted Hybrid with reverse from Sept. Sev. 350I (which is R2))
Part of the appeal of this series is that there were so many dies and types that most collectors will have something unique or at least very rare but the mainstream does not care because only a few coins are high grade. The Virtus is far above average for a rarity with more being like my first two. These coins were struck by the same culture that gave us Pescennius Niger which is of similar scarcity but sells for many times the price because that ruler does not come in a low price Rome mint version. A catalog of Martin's collection would make RIC look like an amateur effort. Currently the easily available references on Eastern Domna are all private collections not the least of which is the now dispersed Barry Murphy collection which is still nowhere near what Martin has shown on Coin Talk: http://bpmurphy.ancients.info/severan/jdalex1.htm
I'll stir this pot with a coin from my drawer of decrepit imitations, an AE denarius of Domna. The dealer called this coin a "cast AE denarius" but it's possible it was struck as a fourée, in which case the silver plating would have had sharper details. Fourée cores always look cast, being the underlying metal. Or maybe it was simply cast bronze, and that was OK with the locals that used it. One poster at FORVM (sagit) says bronze imitations of common denarii from Hadrian to S. Severus are found abundantly in the Ukraine, particularly in the Vinnitsa and Cherkassy regions. Obviously the local tribes were using them openly in commerce. Perhaps the coin should be called a tribal denarius, for those of you who find the term "barbarous" pejorative. Julia Domna contemporary cast AE Denarius. AE 18, 2.24g, unknown mint. Obv.: IVLIA AVGVSTA, draped bust right. Rev.: CERERI FRVGIF, Ceres seated left, holding corn-ears and long torch. copying RIC 546
Wow, super new addition, Mat!! ... the dark, almost blueish-purple patina is very attractive (you mentioned that the coin is actually darker in-hand, but hopefully it still emits a bit of this cool hue?) Oh, and fantastic examples as per usual, Martin & Doug ... awesome!! ummm, I only have one Julia Domna coin and it's an antoninianus ... but it's my antoninianus, so I'm gonna let it out to play with all of the other Domna examples! ... => so, run along now honey and don't let Mr. Smith bother you if he says that you're not a denarius!! (you're a denarius in my eyes)
I believe the legend was CERERI FRVGIF. One thing to keep in mind is that you can never make a statement about how all unofficial coins were done with the accuracy available when talking about issues of Rome or other official mints. Many AE denarii were cast. Not all. Many were plated. Can you prove all the ones we have today once were plated? How? Some plated coins of Domna were cast in bronze and later surfaced with silver wash. Others were struck on flans plated before striking and a few were made with the silver foil technique that was most common 200 years earlier. The coin shown by JA copies the Laodicea style rather accurately and appears to have been made by making a mold from a real denarius. Are there traces of silver? Were there? Below is a foil technique fourree struck from original dies that do not really duplicate the style of any mint. The makers of these two coins had little in common other than they were not the official mint. Looking at one tells us nothing about the other. Those of us who like unofficial coins enjoy finding style matches that suggest two coins were made by the same unofficial operator. Proving anything is harder. Perhaps even more interesting are the many coins of this period obviously not from an official mint but solid not plated. Some are more base than the real thing but some are close enough that one wonders where the profit was to be made if that was the intent of the maker. We have a lot to learn about the official coins. The unofficial ones seem hopelessly complex.
I agree with Doug. CERERI FRVGIF would be the logical legend for the base metal coin. Compare with mine.
