I've had this coin for over 15 years but I just recently started to flesh out the numismatic specifics. I've gone around in circles since yesterday afternoon with it. If you, or someone you know, can put me out of my misery, I'd be hugely appreciative! It is surely safe to presume it's a coin on which Damnatio Memoriae was exacted. And because of the evidence of it being a dual portrait obverse coupled to a reverse showing a horse-and-rider (presumably Zeus Panamaros), the logical presumptions would be that (a) the obverse's removed portrait is/was Geta, (b) the obverse's remaining portrait is Caracalla, and (c) the host coin is SNG von Aulock 2682, 2685, or 2689-91. (All those types were issued in Stratonicaea in Caria, under Septimius Severus, have a Caracalla / Geta dual obverse portrait, and a Zeus Panamaros on horseback reverse.) BUT... not only is the 31.5 mm. diameter slightly small for any of those options, but under the horse's forelegs I see a kneeling captive facing right, not a lighted altar as is the norm for the SNGvA cites listed above. For a Thracian Caracalla reverse with a very similarly shaped and positioned captive see: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=4800768 I have begun to wonder if the host coin's type could be one with obverse dual portraits of Caracalla and Julia Domna, as I noticed some of those while hunting through the Caracalla and Geta dual portrait types. However, that would mean that in antiquity someone mistook Julia for Geta and defaced/removed her portrait thinking it was Geta. But that seems unlikely. Further complicating the issue, the worn surface and purposely partially obliterated obverse has resulted in virtually no obverse legend remaining to aid the hunt for an attribution. 31.5 mm. 15.25 g. In addition to a host coin attribution, I'd love to have a Howgego number for the countermark at the bottom of the obverse. I have Howgego's book, but have been unable to find a match. Howgego 188, 536, & 233 are the three c/m's I found to be associated with Geta's Damnatio coins, but none of those seem to be a match. Below are 2 different close-up images of the countermark. (I rotated each one 90-degrees to the left because it looks like it goes that way. I think I see a head with eyes and hair, and a torso underneath -- possibly with wings?) Note also that it looks like someone tried to remove the horseman's head also, which would be a little odd. Thanks for reading this far!
