Amongst the eastern issues of Septimius Severus are an odd little sub-series that don't follow the full late Emesa obverse legend of "IMP CAE L SEP SEV PERT AVG COS II". They come with a variety of legend variations and are quite enigmatic in that their style doesn't really match this series but does seem closer to the "IMP II" series. Anyway that is a story for another day. I have a bit of an obsession with this sub series and have a few examples. My latest example is from my favourite obverse die from this series, an example of which which was my first eastern denarius of Sept. Sev. and ignited the fire. 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 -. Black tone. my other examples Rev:– FORT REDVC, Fortuna standing left, holding rudder & cornucopia References:– RIC -. BMCRE -. RSC -. Here is my first one. The same reverse type as my new coin but different reverse die. Sold to me as a fake. Rev:– FORT REDVC, Fortuna standing left, holding long scepter & cornucopia References:– RIC -. BMCRE -. RSC -. Rev– LIBER AVG, Liberalitas standing left, holding abacus in right hand, cornucopiae in left Reference:– BMCRE -. RIC - RSC -. Rev:– MART-I V-ICTORI, Mars advancing right carrying spear and trophy. Minted in Emesa. A.D. 194-195 Reference:– BMCRE -. RIC - RSC -. I know of two other reverses. Doug has a MINER VI-CTRIC which is reverse die linked to a different obverse die in this series. There is also a MONET AVG, Moneta standing type. My search for these continues. These all seem quite scarce. I have found only one example of each apart from the Mars coin of which I know that there are 3 examples. Obsessive? Me? Yep! Martin
I hear 'maybe' and 'a bit'. I am obsessive in different things and there is no 'maybe' about it. The question is what is the significance of this sub-series and another half dozen oddball groups inside what we call the Syrian mints. Some one will figure it out and, someday, I will drop dead. The question in my book is in which order these events occur. My more pessimistic question is whether the person who figures this out and publishes a proper replacement for the current literature has been born yet. VICTRIS VICTRIC VICTOR AVG I have not checked to be sure but are we to the point yet that between us we have more types/varieties NOT listed in RIC than there are listed? I need to go through my coins and see what I find. I have not done much with them since Bickford-Smith died and I slowed down collecting them. That has been 20 years now. I need to reread his letters and see what I have forgotten.
You guys are awesome with your obsessiveness (obsession?) => this "rival-stuff" never gets old!! You guys rock the Sep-Sev world!!
Nice coins. You mentioned one was sold to you as a fake, is it actually fake? If so, what identifiers are there? Thanks.
Thirty years ago there was a favorite dealer that sent me unillustrated lists calling some denarii 'barbarous' which allowed me to buy them knowing I would get an Emesa. If all you know are Rome mint coins, any of the Easterns will look 'wrong'.
Doug, I am trying to do some die analysis on this series and have been busy documenting all that I have been able to find. I want to try and understand a little about this series and share what I find. Looking at your VICTRIS... I believe that yours is ex-Barry Murphy and there is a double die match example in the BM. These seem to come from the most frequestly used of these legend variations - IMP CA L SE SEV - PER AVG COS II I have a BONA SPES from the same obverse die. This also has a double die match in the BM. CNG sold a LIBE-R AVG, Liberalitas seated with a matching obverse die. I believe that this is closely associated with the following obverse based on engraving style of the bust - IMP CA L SEP SEV - PER AVG COS II The only other example I have been able to find with this obverse die is a BONA SPES in the BM This obverse legend appears with a different obverse die... I am not aware of other examples from this obverse die. Then comes - IMP CA L SEP SEV - PER AV COS II I am aware of two BONA SPES examples, from the same die pair, one in the BM and one sold by Roma in 2013. https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=1818969 I have a IOVI VICTORI and a MARTI VICTORI - This is of particular interest to me as it is a reverse die link to the Mars example in my OP above. This links these two obverse dies to the same mint, which is part of what I am attempting to do with my study. There is also a MINER VICTRIC sold by Rauch in 2013 that links to Doug's MINER VICTRIC above, which links these dies too. https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=1811451 This obverse die seems to be from the same hand as the following obverse die with legend - IMP CA L SEP SE-V PER AVG COS II This BONA SPES has a double die match in the BM. There is a VICTOR AVG with this obverse die. Mine is below, a double die match is illustrated by Doug above and there is another example from the same die pair in the BM There is a different die with a matching obverse legend (look at the position of the bow of the wreath ties and the relative position to the letter A) I have a FORT REDVC which is a double die match to an example in the BM Barry Murphy illustrates an Hilaritas FORT REDVC http://bpmurphy.ancients.info/images/Severan/Emesa/10594.jpg And there is a IOVI VICT in the following thread on Forvm (I hope to return to this coin another time) http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=92371.msg623811#msg623811 I am only aware of two more obverse dies which have splits at the end of the legend - IMP CA L SE SEV - PEVR(sic) AVG COS I - I I am only aware of a BONA SPES reverse A double die match was sold by Lanz in 2002 https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=115694 The final die has legend - IMP CA L SEP S-EV PER AVG COS - II The only reverse I am aware of is LIBER AVG which jas a double die match in the BM My research continues with trawling of online resources and going through old catalogs. I hope that you don;tmind me sharing my findings with you over time as I find them. Martin
I speak only for myself, but I find this very interesting and hope you post your findings here for our education and enlightenment.
@maridvnvm : Martin - although I do not deep dive into your expertise, I truly enjoy your postings. I have learned a lot that I apply those practices when I search for coins for my interest areas. I very much appreciate the work (fun!) that you apply to your specialties! Thank you very much for your sharing them. Best, Brian
We are now a few years on and I have added another two reverse dies to the one in my OP. One is the MONET AVG type that I mentioned above, the other is a BONA SPES type that I had been unaware of. The Minerva type still evades me. Obv:– IMP CA L SE SEV PER AG COS II, Laureate head right Rev:– M-ONE-T AVG, Moneta standing left, holding scales in right hand, cornucopiae in left Minted in Emesa, A.D. 194 References:– RIC -. BMCRE -. RSC -. Obv:– IMP CA L SE SEV PER AG COS II, Laureate head right Rev:– BONA SPES, Spes standing holding flower and lifting skirt Minted in Emesa. A.D. 194-195 Reference(s) – BMCRE -. RSC -. RIC -. 3.48g, 18.40mm, 0o
This is fascinating - I assume by Eastern you mean "Emesa" and not Alexandria of Lao - I am not going to try to spell it - beautiful coins.
I am choosing to use "eastern" quite deliberatley. There is no real evidence of the location of the mints for the AVG-COS series or the IMP II, IMP VIII issues. RIC and BMCRE both use Emesa and Laodicea-ad-Mare respectively but the British Museum now uses Cappadocia and Antiochia ad Orontem respectively. Ending in COS II these coins are generally lumped in with the standard COS II issue. Whilst I have been able to find reverse die links between some of these short legend issues I am yet to find a die link to the standard COS II issue. I have spent a LOT of time looking. I have my own private thoeries but I suspect it will take me a while longer before I can progress these theories further.
