Septimius Severus provincial of Nicaea depicting Asklepios

Several years ago I purchased this small provincial of Septimius Severus and have concluded it is very scarce.


Septimius Severus, AD 192-211.
Roman provincial Æ 20.2 mm, 5.62 gm, 12 h.
Bithynia, Nicaea AD 193-211.
Obv: ΑΥ ΚΛ CЄΠ CЄΥΗΡΟC CЄB, laureate head, right.
Rev: ΝΙΚΑΙЄΩΝ, Asklepios standing facing, head left, holding serpent-staff.
Ref: Rec. Gen. 333; Mionnet Suppl. 5, 589.

While I don't have access to the relevant volume of RPC,* SNG von Aulock, or Lindgren, it's not on Wildwinds and I can't find an example at acsearchinfo or at asiaminorcoins.com. Would anyone with access to these references for Nicaea in Bithynia be so kind as to let me know if this coin appears therein?

I am, however, able to access the online version of RG book 1, volume 3 (page 440), where it is listed as #333, citing a retouched specimen in Milan, an Æ 21 mm with illegible obverse legend.



In addition, it is listed in Mionnet suppl. 5 (p. 109), where it is listed as #589, citing Vaillant and also noting an incomplete obverse legend.



Interestingly, while the British Museum does not have an example of my coin, they do have a larger coin (1.15 in = 29 mm) of Julia Domna with the same reverse type (BMC 13.162,65).



I guess what I'm trying to ascertain is how rare this thing might be. Is there another example online anywhere? If the Recueil général and Mionnet are the only citations for this coin, then that would mean that the complete obverse inscription is only attested by my particular example.

Questions I have:

• Is the specimen in Milan with the illegible obverse legend cited by Waddington (Rec. Gen.) the same one belonging to Vaillant as cited by Mionnet?
• Who was Vaillant, anyway?
  
• What does N.g. mean in the Mionnet listing?
• Are there any other examples of this coin?

Post anything you feel is relevant!

~~~

*Unfortunately, RPC volume V.2 is not yet available at the online version of RPC.

 

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Pretty rare, I'm guessing. I did a quick search on ISEGRIM and the only hit was the Rec Gen example. I don't have the RPC volume.

The "Mi" in Rec Gen listing:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/43583957?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
Still, not a confirmation that they're not the same coin, I suppose.

 

I suggest everyone take the time to read this article on Vaillant just for entertainment if nothing else. It replaced on my want list that will never be achieved a Boscoreale aureus with a gold coin ex (lax) Vaillant - preferably the Otho 'yet to be expected'. I became aware of Vaillant years ago when I was researching a coin he published that was not later repeated in the literature other than quoting his. I did not know any of the details of his life including the fact that he died at my current age. I do find the history of our hobby quite interesting.

 

These Provincials can be difficult to attribute, at least for me. Nice detective work, RC. Sorry to say I can't add anything useful to your findings.

Here are two Provincials of Septimius Severus with Asclepius reverse (one in a temple):



Septimius Severus Æ 28
(c. 193-211 A.D.)
Thrace, Pautalia
Caicilius Largus, Hegemon
[A]V K Λ CEΠ CEV[HPOC Π]. laureate head right / HΓ[E KAIKI ΛAPΓOV] OVΛΠIAC ΠAVT[AΛIAC]. tetrastyle temple with Asklepios standing with serpent-entwined staff.
(13.51 grams / 28 mm)
Attribution Note:
There are several variations of this type, found exact match for legends via acsearch: Varbanov 4631, noted as rare.
Numismatik Naumann (formerly Gitbud & Naumann)Auction 33, Lot 288
July 5, 2015



Septimius Severus Æ 26
(c. 193-211 A.D.)
Moesia Inferior,
Nicopolis ad Istrum
Aurelius Gallus, consular legate
AY K•Λ:C CEVHΡOC, laureate head right / VΠ AVP ΓΑΛΛΟV NIKOΠOΛITAN, ΠΡΟCI• in ex., Asklepios standing r., holding serpent-entwined staff on ground.
(10.53 grams / 26 mm)
Attribution Note:
There are several variations of this type, found exact match for legends via acsearch: Mouchmov 909.
Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. Electronic Auction 441, Lot 294 April 3, 2019

 

I only just noticed this thread and sorry that the thread is almost exactly 4 years old !
Firstly, the N.g. in Mionnet's listing refers to Vaillant's work "Numismata Graeca".
Also, after RecGen was published in 1910, Babelon (who was working at the Paris Cabinet) made a lot of additions and corrections to the book in the Paris collection, adding this coin's obverse legend AY K L CEP CEYHROC to the entry 333, adding AE20 GD. "GD" means Grand Duc Michaelovich who had a huge coin collection. That Paris volume of RecGen can be downloaded from Gallica. You just need to find the right one.
Now back to Vaillant. His "Numismata Graeca" (which was written in 1700) can be downloaded from the University of Heidelberg's Digital library:
http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/vaillant1700/0007
(click the download symbol at top right of that page).
The coins are arranged by emperor and then more or less in alphabetical order of mint. This coin cited by Mionnet is on Valliant's p. 85, and gives, as its source "Reg. Suecia", so the king or queen of Sweden.
Now, the only Swedish regent who had a notable coin collection was Queen Christina, who died in 1689. It is entirely plausible that Vaillant's entry refers to her collection. Queen Christina became a Catholic in her later years and decided to give almost her entire collection to the Vatican who salted them away in their bottomless coffers. Along comes good old Napoleon who invaded the Vatican, siezed the collection and took it back to France with him. Unfortunately many of the gold and silver coins were stolen and likely melted down during a great robbery of the old Paris cabinet back in the 1700s (I have a report of the theft somewhere amongst the 72,000 pdfs on my NAS)... Rather like Stalin's thieving mobs who looted the Hermitage coin collection and sent the coins to a seller in Germany who then sold them in two auctions - knowing damn well that they had been looted but describing them as "Dubletten aus Museumsbesitz" (duplicates from a museum's property). The empty coin holders in the Hermitage are still in place.
So maybe this information will help.

 

PS There has been one on wildwinds since 2017.
as RecGen 333b

 

Thank you so much!