Well my last coin purchase of the year has turned out to be one that I would not normally do. I didn't check my records befor buying this latest coin and bought it because I chase after the eastern IMP II series of Septimius Severus, which are generally quite scarce and didn't think that I had an example from these dies. I was wrong. I don't even have the excuse that it is an upgrade as an excuse for my purchase as my new example isn't as nice as my previous one. All this has highlighted to me that I need to take more care and judgement with my purchases. Septimius Severus denarius Obv:– L SEPT SEV P-ERET AVG IMP II, laureate head right Rev:– VICTO-R AVG, Victory advancing left, holding wreath and palm Minted in Laodicea-ad-Mare. A.D. 196 Reference:– BMCRE cf 436 which is PERET and IMP I-I with VICTO-R. RIC 461b (S). my previous example I bought another coin from the same dealer at the same time, mainly because it was too cheap to leave there. Domna denarius Obv:– IVLIA DOMNA AVG, Draped bust right Rev:– LIBERAL AVG, Liberalitas standing left, holding abacus in right hand, cornucopiae in left Minted in Emesa, A.D. 194-195 References:– BMCRE pg. 102, RIC 627, RSC 103 Off centre strike on the reverse. I look forward to many more numismatic mistakes next year. Bring it on!
The duplicate is a very nice coin. I agree with lordmarcovan; having duplicates is not the worst problem or mistake in the world.
Who needs an excuse? My rule of thumb is collect what you like. I like MA Legionary denarii and I have several duplicates. I think both are excellent.
Nice ones, maridvnvm - and duplicate ancients are not really duplicates - so I tell myself. But the method of manufacture is so "handmade" that unless you manage to get some die links, the "same" coins can be quite different. Add in differences in patina and tone and - voila! - not really a duplicate. (How's that for an accumulator's justification?)
I have even bought die duplicates intentionally to illustrate the concept. There was a time 1997-2003 when my website was ruling my lie and many coins were purchased to illustrate a new page for the site. When I stopped doing that my collecting habits returned to something more normal but I had become a much more general collector and less the Septimius specialist I had been before 1997. These IMP coins are die duplicates. My two IMP II Victory coins have very different legends from each other. First is the standard VICTOR AVG. The second is not at all nice but it appears to be IMP II (or is it IMPVI with II lost beyond the bust point?). ARAB ABDIABENIC - I would like to upgrade this one. Do you have a clear one?
I have several duplicates of Constantius II even a couple struck on the same dies. I can't share them here because I have over 80 Falling Horseman types. But nice coins all. My rule of thumb is that if a coin speaks to you then it should be yours, duplicate or not.
Fascinating coins Doug. I have the obverse die of your last example (the ADIABENIC) down as an IMP II. I haven't seen that reverse for IMP II before. My example of the die isn't great however and has a double cornucopia Fortuna type. I have a double die match to your Hilaritas (which I might have a go at cleaning!):- I wasn't really short of Victory IMP II coins. P-ERTE, VICT-O-R V-VG P-ERET .... IMP I-I, VICT-O-R AVG Same obv. die, VICT-OR AVG P-ERET.... IMP-II, VICTO-R AV-G PE-RET....IMP-II, VICT-O-R AVG, Victory walking right, holding wreath in left hand, trophy in right Same obv die??, PE-RET....IMP-II, VIC-T-O-R AVG
My double cornucopia is a very different die set. The reverse is RDEVC and the obverse is the unusual one with the second I of IMPI-I all the way over to the last space before the legend begins. I have to wonder why they skipped that first indent on the bottom of the portrait and went over to the second.
Like these.... Obv match? Similar but different? I don't think that either is a reverse die match though.
I have been doing some admin and have found that my trays held even more IMP II Victories. P-ERET with VICTO-R AVG. The spacing here is what brought me to this one with the Obeing around 10 o'clock and the R being all the way round at 2 o'clock. Same reverse die? but a P-ERTE - IMP-II obverse PERET and VICT-O (sic) And a scarcer reverse variant Obv:– L SEPT SEV P-ERTE AVG IMP II, laureate head right Rev:– VICTO-R AVG, Victory advancing left, holding wreath in both hands Minted in Laodicea-ad-Mare. A.D. 196 Reference(s) – BMCRE -. RIC - (reverse type not listed for Laodicea). RSC -.
