Thismone is a puzzler. From what I can make out the reverse inscription EOKOR (6 o'clock) places this coin from Ephesos, Ionia, and has the same depiction of the Temple of Artemis found in Lindgren 461 Antoninus Pius. So far so good. However the obverse portrait looks like Severus, and the inscription appears to contain SEP (10 o'clock). However, I can't find this obverse/reverse combination in any of the sources I consulted. Does that seem reasonable? Even a few more letters would help. Are there any tricks for reading weak inscriptions you'd suggest?
This is definitely Septimius Severus of a Greek legend Provincial mint I can not name off hand. At the bottom of the reverse is legend naming the city as having a Neocourate temple which would make it easier to narrow down if you want to put the work into it. I tried and failed searching for Septimius and octostyle (temple of eight columns). I might start looking at Laodicea ad Lycum because of similarities in style I see here but that is a wild guess. https://www.cngcoins.com/Search.asp...1&SEARCH_IN_CONTAINER_TYPE_ID_4=1&VIEW_TYPE=0
@dougsmit Thank you Doug, not only did you give me a lead on attributing this coin, you taught me something. I started from the reverse because I thought the legend beneath the temple was diagnostic of Ephesos rather than signifying a city with a Neocourate temple. Now that I know that I'll start with Septimius and expand the geography, beginning with Laodicea ad Lycum as recommended.
@Ancient Aussie Yes, I believe that is indeed the coin. I scoured RPC and Wildwinds, but nothing matched. Thank you for finding it.
