Let me start with an apology. People will know from the title that this is going to be yet another thread on the Eastern denarii of Septimius Severus and many, if not most of you willbe getting fed up with seeing them. If you have seen enough for this lifetime then feel free to close this thread and move on. I am going to post this regardless. The reverse type depicting Jupiter seated seems generally quite rare for the eastern issues of Septimius Severus (though after I show you a few different ones you will start to think that I am talking rubbish). I will start by stating that there are two subtly different reverse types:- 1) Jupiter, seated left, holding Victory and sceptre, at feet eagle 2) Jupiter, seated left, holding Victory and sceptre The first of these types occurs for denarii of the COS I issue and aurei and denarii of the COS II issue with the reverse legend IOVI PRAE ORBIS I have the COS I denarius Doug and the British Museum have COS II examples of the denarius, which share the same reverse die as my COS I, which ceates a direct linkage between the two issues. Barry Murphy illustrates a COS II on his website which is from the same die pair as the British Museum coin The COS II Aureus has a different reverse die. The second reverse type occurs at what is referred to as the Laodicea mint and occurs for the IMP II and IMP VIII issues The IMP II coins come with a range of legend IOBI VICTO IOVI VICTORI IOVI VICT My IOVI VICTORI (illustrated below) and the British Museum example come from different dies Barry and I both have the IOBI VICTO type but these appear tocome from different dies I have the IOVI VICT, which seems to match the description of an example in Copehagen, which is the source of this type existing in the major references Now in addition to the examples above there is an odd sub-series of the COS II coins which have errored/shortened versions of the COS II obverse legends. These are a bit of a mystery and how they fit in the mint allocation / chronology carries a lot of uncertainty. This odd series also has Jupiter seated types but only without the eagle unlike the other COS I and COS II coins. Some think they are a sub-series of the COS II issues whilst there has been a thought that they might be a different mint or even a travelling mint. Study is required. IMP CA L SEP SEV PER AVG COS II, IOVI VICT IMP CA L SE SEV PER AV COS II, IOVI VICTORI These do not have die linkage to any other series...yet. A die link to either series would create a bond. A lack of die linkage does not necessarily creat a separation. My search continues.
Pretty interesting, had no idea of so many different dies. I've always just looked at these reverses and thought its the same coin. Guess I should pay more attention to the legends and figures.
Those are some great Sept Sev / Jupiter coins!!! I love all the SS specialty posts!!! Keepem coming!!
I only have one but the obverse die is one of my favorites from a style perspective. There are several very distinct styles of Syrian portraits suggesting quite a number of engravers if not multiple mints. The series needs a thorough die study but the number of dies will make this difficult.
