There are a bunch of COS II legend varieties from Emesa that have shortened elements in the obverse legend. I am always on the lookout for these as they often go unnoticed by sellers and buyers alike. We tend to fill in the gaps and see what we think should be there. The usual obverse legend is "IMP CAE L SEP SEV PERT AVG COS II" with the bold letters being ones that disappear. My favourite obverse die of these shortened legends is responsible for getting me hooked on these eastern issues. I now have four reverses linked with this obverse. Septimius Severus denarius Obv:– IMP CA L SE SEV PER AG COS II, Laureate head right Rev:– FORT REDVC, Fortuna standing left, holding long scepter & cornucopia References:– RIC -. BMCRE -. RSC -. 3.17g, 18.54mm, 0o Rev:– FORT REDVC, Fortuna standing left, holding rudder & cornucopia References:– RIC -. BMCRE -. RSC -. 2.40g, 18.83mm, 0o Rev– LIBER AVG, Liberalitas standing left, holding abacus in right hand, cornucopiae in left Reference:– BMCRE -. RIC - RSC -. And my latest addition. Rev:– MART-I V-ICTORI, Mars advancing right carrying spear and trophy. Reference:– cf. BMCRE 378 note. cf RIC 406b. RSC 324e. (all citing Cohen 324 - Kholl) 3.16 gms. 0 degrees This last coin is a reverse die match to another example I have from a different obverse die which also has shortened legends Obv:–IMP CA L SE SEV PER AVG COS II, laureate head right Rev:– MART-I V-ICTORI, Mars advancing right carrying spear and trophy. Reference:– cf. BMCRE 378 note. RIC 406b. RSC 324e. (all citing Cohen 324 - Kholl) I know that Doug has a wonderful example of the first obverse die above with a MINER VICTRIC reverse. There are a few others I have spotted over the years but they were obviously spotted for what they were. Martin
OK, I'll ask the obvious question: Any speculation as to why those 'bold' letters are missing?? Style, error or just spacing requirement---or a combination of all three??
There are a variety of thoughts. Maybe a separate mint, maybe even a travelling mint. We simply don't know.
Ancient numismatics is often a popular hobby with theoretical physicists. In both fields "I don't know" is usually the most nearly correct answer. That does not stop us from fabricating proposals that address certain situations but the only universal truth is that anyone who thinks he has all the answers most certainly does not understand the questions.
We can gather snippets of information. We can develop bodies of information through study and dies analysis. Mainly it comes down to thoeries and hypothesis. Given that the mint records don't exist then much of what we guess will likely be wrong.
