One man's junk coin, another man's prized Septimius Severus

Allow me to introduce you to my first coin this year, a Septimius Severus denarius with a RESTITVTOR VRBIS reverse featuring a helmeted Roma with Palladium.

JA rescued this baby from what he described as a "throw away coin box." Now, I don't know what dealer would think this was a throw away coin, because underneath this amazing looking ebony toning that is probably several centuries old, lies a great portrait of Septimius Severus. Sure, the reverse shows a little porosity, but that's nothing uncommon in coins of this era. I don't see what would have condemned this coin to a junk box except that some people just can't appreciate a little toning.

Here's JA's picture of my new Septimius Severus.



He is joined in my collection by his son Caracalla (see below). Now I really have no excuse to get me a Geta.



And since I'm feeling rather lazy, being the new year and all, I asked JA if I could use his picture as my official picture for the coin. He did a great job capturing a black toned coin. He said I could...which is great. There is nothing like outsourcing a task to make me feel even lazier

 

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Cool Sep-Sev addition ... curious, what is Roma holding in her right hand?

 

nice new coins sallent! i think roma has a little victory in her hands? not sure. maybe a die break or something there making it look a bit strange?

i dig the SS, i really like the caracalla

 

On this type, Roma holds a palladium, which this engraver has imbued with copious detail.

In Greek and Roman mythology, a palladion (Greek) or palladium (Latin) was an image of great antiquity on which the safety of a city was said to depend. "Palladium" especially signified the wooden statue of Pallas Athena that Odysseus and Diomedes stole from the citadel of Troy and which was later taken to Rome by Aeneas. The Roman story is related in Virgil's Aeneid and other works. -- Dictionary of Roman Coins.

The coin wasn't exactly in a junk box, but it was thrown into a lot of decrepit coins where it didn't belong in the least.

 

Do some of you guys even read my write-ups? lol

Should I just post a pic and a price?

 

I read your write ups with great interest because the odds are good that some of those coins will be coming to my collection. I just did the math and over 60% of my collection came from either your auctions or from special offers you have made to me.

What can I say? You really know how to pick em.

 

I have a retired used car salesman living next door. Every conversation, bar none, he starts with "Let me ask you a question...."

So, here is the conversation between JA and Salient:
JA: Let me ask you a question. If I can sell this coin to you for X dollars, can you see yourself owning it today?
Salient: I don't know. Maybe
JA: Let me ask you another question. If you agree to buy this coin today, I'll talk to the boss and get you a really good deal. But you have to buy today, otherwise I can't guarantee this kind of deal.
Salient: Ok, ok. Get me a good deal and consider it sold!
Etc
Etc

BTW, nice coin.

 

Bing, let me ask you a question...

 

Seriously though, we should talk about the coin. If someone ever makes a "post your buildings" thread again, toss this coin in and let them decipher why it would belong in such a thread.

 

I know I prefer dealers offer more coins with less information since I feel perfectly capable of researching the coins I buy and will be checking any data provided anyway. The question is not what I want but what will sell more of your coins for higher prices. If you spend a hour researching and writing words no one reads, you are out that hour but if it causes a bidding war on a coin so there is an extra $20 in the result, you made $20 an hour. In the case of this coin, you had discussed it heavily on CT when you bought it. I got the impression that the previous owner thought it was an AE Limes but you discovered it was black toned silver which, to most people, is better. If all of our words here that go unread were to turn into nickels, you would be a millionaire and I would be Donald Trump.

 

Your coin has some deposits on the Palladium. Mine is a bit clearer there but has a flan flaw to its right. There are perfect coins but I don't have many.

 

Thankfully his fascinating posts on this coin didn't trigger a bidding war. I got her cheap. I think most people would prefer some shine to their coins, even if it has some toning. A dark silver coin just doesn't seem as exciting to some, so this one just flew under the radar. Or maybe all of you have several Septimius Severus coins, so it was like..."Oh no, not another one of those." Either way, I'm just happy to get a unique looking Septimius Severus silver denarius with a nice portrait, and no bidding competition whatsoever.

 

I doubt that the total number of Septimius coins held by regular posters on this list is much over 1000.

 

Well, considering my entire collection of ancient coins is still under 20 examples, I'm just extremely thrilled to be the owner of a single Septimius Severus denarius. Hopefully one day I can get to the point where I have at least 10 to 20 different examples of coins of the more common Emperors, and at least a few of some of the less known and more uncommon Emperors. I guess I have to start somewhere though, so I'm extremely ecstatic to have won this one.

 

In all honesty, I do not remember when I had 20 coins. In 1986, I decided that I needed to assign accession numbers to my coins and had 44 then. In 1974, I sold 150 so there were two times that I had 20. Don't sell out. It was a big mistake.

 

I have a love of research, so my jibes are very much in good fun, nothing more. Nothing pleases me more in this hobby than acquiring a new type, digging into the books and composing my little synopses. If that means I sell fewer coins than more, so be it. Fortunately, I don't have do this for a living.

 

"and let me ask you a question" Only jokes my friend(ly)used car salesman.

 

This is the car salesman JA reminds me of. Except JA would be shouting Praise Salus, Praise Jupiter, or Praise Roma as he is selling me the next ancient Roman coin.

 

lol!