Dupondius Septimius severus

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Parthicus Maximus, Apr 11, 2019.

  1. Parthicus Maximus

    Parthicus Maximus Well-Known Member

    I am new to this forum. I have been collecting Roman coins for about a year now. First I just randomly bought some nice coins. But I noticed that this was not really satisfying. That is why I have now started with a collective theme. My goal is to get all the denominations that were beaten during the reign of septimius severus. With the exception of the Aureus. It is not such a big goal but I think if you set yourself big goals, you will easily deviate from it. I already had a denarius. and a few days ago I came across this Dupondius and I bought it. The seller noted it as ric 688b. But i think it is ric 694. I could only find a previously sold copy. At cgb in 2008 that was € 210. L SEPT SEV PERT AVG IMP- Septimius severus with steel crown, looking to the right P M TR P III - COS II P P- naked Mars, with cloak, walking to the right. a spear in his right hand and a trophy in his left AE Dupondius, struck 195. 11,60 gr/ 24mm Ric 694 head of septi.jpg marti .jpg I am curious what you think of this coin. Is this coin rare? Sorry for my bad English. I am from the Netherlands and I still have a lot to learn. If you also have bronze coins from Severus, please show them.
     
    Last edited: Apr 11, 2019
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  3. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    That's a handsome coin, though I do not know anything about its relative rarity.

    Your English is perfect - in fact better than many of the native speakers who post here.
     
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  4. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

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  5. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    Very desirable coin. It is indeed RIC 694. RIC 688b is the SESTERTIUS of this type. Don't forget the Roman numeral V at the end of the obverse inscription, "L SEPT SEV PERT AVG IMP V"; it is important for dating and attribution of the coin.

    This coin is quite scarce. The Bibliothèque nationale de France has a copy, Cohen 400, but it is not in the British Museum collection. It is not to be found at OCRE, which collects images from many of the museum and academic collections of Europe and North America. Wildwinds does not have a copy (you might be so kind as to send a photo and information of your coin to them).

    As common as the silver issues of the Severan period are, the imperially-issued bronze coins issued during the reign of Severus himself are scarce. In contrast, bronze provincial issues of the era are extremely common and of much interest to the collector. Imperially-issued bronze coins become more common under Caracalla and are quite plentiful under Severus Alexander.

    Here are the only two middle bronzes I have that were issued during Severus's lifetime, both of his wife:

    Domna Fecunditas Dupondius.jpg
    Julia Domna, AD 193-217
    Roman orichalcum dupondius; 10.61 gm, 24.2 mm
    Rome, issue 6, AD 195
    Obv: IVLIA DOMNA AVG, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
    Rev: FECVNDITAS, Fecunditas enthroned right, nursing one child, second child stands before her.
    Refs: RIC 844; BMCRE 494; Cohen 43; Hill 126; RCV 6639
    Notes: Ex Ars Classica VIII, 1924, Bement Collection, lot 1184. Die-match to BMCRE-494, pl. 21.4.
    Domna Hilaritas Dupondius.jpg
    Julia Domna, AD 193-217
    Roman AE as or dupondius; 10.68 g, 27.5 mm
    Rome, AD 198
    Obv: IVLIA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right
    Rev: HILARITAS S C, Hilaritas standing left, holding long palm and cornucopiae
    Refs: RIC 877; BMCRE 786; Cohen74; RCV 6641; Hill 315.
     
  6. gsimonel

    gsimonel Well-Known Member

    You are correct; it is a dupondius, not a sestertius, so RIC 694 is the correct catalog number. The only other correction I can see is that there is a "V" at the end of the obverse inscription: L SEPT SEV PERT AVG IMP V.

    The coin is rated "scarce" in RIC, but the most recent edition is over 50 years old. There are several collector who specialize in Septimius Severus who follow this forum. They can speak more to the rarity of your coin than I can.
     
  7. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    I tend to consider any Severus AE to be worthwhile if it has the dating parts of the legend even if they are faint. Sestertii are not common but the smaller AE seem more scarce. Yours is a decent and collectible coin. Too many sellers feel that it is better to quote an incorrect catalog number than no number at all and they are too busy to look up the coin (or don't own the books).
    I do have a few.
    Sestertius from 193 Virtus
    rj4800b00078lgredo.jpg
    IMP IIII three monetae sestertius
    rj4845bb2731.jpg

    dupondius IMP V Roma
    rj4850bb0052.jpg

    Later Roma dupondius TRPXVIII (210 AD)
    rj4960bb0981.jpg
     
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  8. Ken Dorney

    Ken Dorney Yea, I'm Cool That Way...

    Middle bronzes of the period are quite scarce to begin with, this particular type I would call rare. Please dont sell it thinking you will upgrade it as you likely will never see another in any condition unless a larger collection comes up for sale. I've been doing this 35 years and dont recall seeing another of these but doing a quick search I saw a few examples have been sold.

    I'm not really a collector of Severan material but I do collect sestertii. I wasn't going to keep this one below, but then decided, 'why not. It's nice enough for my collection':

    4493.jpg
     
  9. Parthicus Maximus

    Parthicus Maximus Well-Known Member

    Those are nice coins. I think the latter is the most special. Mainly because you see it even less than the early dupondii.
     
  10. Suarez

    Suarez Well-Known Member

    Very rare, yes. Only one such coin in my database (out of 34,000 coins for this emperor) That's pretty impressive! I agree with the feeling that selling it in the hopes of scoring a better one would be misguided, to say the least.
     
  11. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    Wow. That's neat.
     
  12. octavius

    octavius Well-Known Member

    Not only is your coin rare, but I find it very appealing as well. Great find! Welcome and may you continue to find many more coins and most of all have fun doing so.
     
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  13. randygeki

    randygeki Coin Collector

    Nice!
     
  14. Blake Davis

    Blake Davis Well-Known Member

    Dupondii of Septimius Severus have been noted for their scarcity, I recall reading a series of posts somewhere on this very issue. I have been collecting his coins for some time now and only have one - you are quite lucky or quite skilled at searching to have found one so quickly! It is a beautiful coin.
     
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  15. Severus Alexander

    Severus Alexander find me at NumisForums

    Great coin!! and welcome to the board. :)

    Here's my VICTORIAE BRITTANNICAE as, issued 210-211:
    Screen Shot 2019-04-15 at 6.32.20 PM.jpg
     
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  16. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    I never thought that much about rarity on the Septimius AE. I have always favored denarii from the first years (civil war period) so I wanted more of the AE that match. There is one other period I believe deserves special note not because of rarity but for interest. These are the issues of what I would call the reverse adoption when Septimius announced he was the son of Marcus Aurelius. On these the reverse legend starts DIVI M PII F. Of course any Septimius bronze with legible legends are a bit of a premium item but I consider these letters considerably more important than the rest.
    rj4890b00154lg.jpg rj4900bb1367.jpg

    However, if I were to have my pick of a sestertius upgrade, it would be for my ghost of a legionary. All these are LEG XIIII GEMMV so lacking legends does not keep them from proper ID but that does not keep me from wanting a better one.
    rj4770bb0455.jpg
     
  17. Parthicus Maximus

    Parthicus Maximus Well-Known Member

    I think it was mostly luck. I am now looking for the As and the Sestertius, and I find it difficult to find a good one.
     
  18. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    That one would certainly be nice enough for my collection, too. I quite like the color, surfaces, and contrasting appearance.
     
  19. Parthicus Maximus

    Parthicus Maximus Well-Known Member

    That's a nice coin! I really like the portrait.
     
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  20. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    Great coin and definitely a keeper. I would be proud to have that one in my collection. So don't sell it!
     
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  21. Limes

    Limes Well-Known Member

    Hello there fellow dutchman! Welcome to this great forum. Hope you like it here and stay around. And that is a nice coin indeed!
     
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