My last acquisition of 2019 has finally arrived, so here it is: L SEPT SEV PE-RT AVG IMP VIII – Laureate and cuirassed bust of Septimius Severus right, seen 3/4 from behind ADVENTVI AVG FELICISSIMO S C - Septimius Severus, in military attire, on horse prancing right, raising right hand in salute; in front helmeted Roma advancing right, looking left, leading the emperor´s horse by holding it´s bridle in right hand and vexillum in left hand Sestertius, Rome 196 aD. 32,9 mm / 19,06 gr RIC 719c (R2); BMCRE 596; Cohen 8 var. (draped and cuirassed, 25 F), CSS 227; Sear 6403, Banti 4 (26 specimens) ex Auctions Jean Elsen Nr. 142, 14.09.2019, lot 513 and Nr.143, 07.12.2019, lot 454 And here is a little historic and numismatic background: While campaigning against the Parthians in retaliation for their support for Pescennius Niger in early 196 aD, Septimius Severus received the news of Clodius Albinus´ usurpation in Britain, who had been provoked by Severus´ step of advancing his own elder son Caracalla to the rank of Caesar in December of 195 and thereby making Albinus´ position as heir to the throne untenable. Since the military actions against the rebellious tribes had ended and no longer required his personal attention, Severus gave his legionnaires the order to march west. During the return march, he received the news that the defiant Byzantium had been conquered. The army there had hailed him Imperator for the 8th time, as would be recorded on the coins of this issue. Severus as the prototype soldier emperor wasn´t content with his status as lord of the entire East and victorious general but found it necessary to further strengthen the positive mood of the legionnaires with a donative. The army marched back at an impressive pace with the Emperor traveling, as illustrated on the reverse of this coin, on horseback at the head of his troops (he would only switch to a covered litter for his British campaign due to his deteriorating health two decades later). After returning to Europe, Severus only stopped to consecrate a temple in Perinth that he had praised for the positive outcome before the war against Pescennius Niger. In the summer of 196 Severus visited Rome under the strictest security precautions. Clodius Albinus had crossed over to Gaul in Spring and the borderland had been fortified. His return after at least three years of absence made the Roman population aware of the feeling of continuity in power, even under the circumstances of the approaching civil war. The mint at the capital anticipated the triumphal return and corresponding games and money distributions by celebrating Severus´ auspicious arrival by means of an elaborate reverse design illustrating the emperor entering Rome on horseback, raising his hand in greeting and led by the figure of Roma herself, the personification of the capital (and not a comon soldier, als reported in most of the literature), on an emission of Aurei, Sestertii, and bronze Medallions (corresponding Denarii and some Sestertii omit the figure of Roma). The Sestertii of this type were struck with three bust types: laureate head right (RIC 719 a, BMC 595, Banti 2), laureate bust right, wearing paludamentum and cuirass (RIC 719b, BMC 596 note, Banti 3), and, like my coin, laureate bust right, wearing cuirass only (RIC 719c, BMC 596, Banti 4). The first two varieties are very rare, as is a reverse version with Severus and the horse only (RIC 718, BMC 598, Banti 1). The reverse of the bronze Medallion in Berlin (Gnecchi II, 73; Dressel 95, Banti 5) shows the horse rearing. As Curtis Clay kindly pointed out in another thread, the 59 Sestertii of this type (with all bust types) known to him in 1972 were struck from a total of 17 reverse dies (a further 7 specimens from 2 reverse dies omit the figure of Roma, RIC 718, BMC 598, Banti 1). My coin is a previously unreported die combination (obverse die Severus Nr. 313 and reverse die Nr. 459 in his catalogue). There were two ADVENTVI AVG FELICISSIMO specimens found in the Guelma hoard among a total of 57 Sestertii of Septimius Severus. Thanks for reading and let´s see your Adventus coins!
Nice one, @Julius Germanicus , and the die-study by @curtislclay is icing on the cake. Here's my favorite Adventus coin: Trebonianus Gallus, AD 251-253. Roman AR antoninianus, 3.82 g, 19.7 mm, 11 h. Antioch, second series, AD 251-252. Obv: IMP C C VIB TREB GALLVS P F AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust, right. Rev: ADVENTVS AVG, Emperor on horseback, left, raising right hand and holding scepter. Refs: RIC 79; Cohen 2; RCV 9622; Hunter 56; ERIC II 44.
Nice find. Because of scrounging, I have three ADVENTVS types of Philip I - these would appear to be one of his more common types. I think this issue was for his return from the east after Gordian III's mysterious death and a quickie deal with the Parthians to end the war.
Nicely done, @Julius Germanicus. I stay away from Sestertii because I have enough going on with denarii and provincials. Your coin is excellent though. I have a denarius: Septimius Severus, Denarius, ADVENTVI AVG FELISSIMO AR Denarius Septimius Severus Augustus: 193 - 211AD Issued: 196AD 18.0mm 2.80gr O: L SEPT SEV PERT AVG IMP VIII; Laureate head, right. R: ADVENTVI AVG FELISSIMO; Septimius Severus riding horse right, raising hand. Rome Mint RIC IV 74; RSC 6; BMC 151; Sear 6256; Hill 232. Aorta: B3, O57, R3, T171, M4. Ex. Dan Clark, Auction 58, Lot #61 in 1984. $84.40. Augustus Coins/Warren Etsy
One nice thing about Sestertii (apart from their size and the fancy colours they sometimes come in) is that they seem to be the prefered subject for die studies. Here is my old Septimius Severus Sestertius - I planned to replace it with the new one but maybe I´ll keep it anyway because I like that golden colour and interesting reverse. And it is much rounder than the OP coin which seems to be one of the earliest examples of the the oddly shaped flans that became the rule for later 3rd century Sestertii. L SEPT SEV PERT AVG IMP V - Laureate Head of Septimius Severus right VIRTVTI AVG S C - Severus, in military attire, standing left, holding Victory on globe and spear, crowned by helmeted Virtus or Roma standing left behind him, also holding parazonium Sestertius, Rome AD 195 RIC 693, BMCRE 562, Cohen 773, Banti 176 (9 specimens, same obverse die as specimen illustrated from Auction Naville II, 1922 / Vautier collection)
An important discovery of my Oxford master's thesis on the coinage of 193-198: Septimius defeated Albinus near Lugdunum not on 19 Feb. 197 (IMP VIIII), the accepted date since at least 1700, but rather one year earlier, on 19 Feb. 196 (IMP VIII). So your sestertius commemorates Septimius' well-attested return to Rome c. summer 196 after his defeat of Albinus several months earlier. He had not returned to Rome earlier in the course of his march from the East, as the old chronology was forced to postulate because of its misdating of the battle of Lugdunum For a detailed summary of my arguments, search Forum's Discussion for Battle of Lugdunum.
Your new chronology makes total sense! Only would certainly wonder why Severus, who was renowned for his fast actions, would tolerate Albinus usurpation for more than one year and instead find the time (and take the risk) to celebrate in the capital before the decisive battle. My writeup was mostly inspired by Joerg Spielvogel´s 2006 german language monography on Septimius Severus, who has ignored your compelling conclusion just like Birley has. David Sear however has already adapted your new chronology in his 2002 Vol II of his RCV, so I hope it will eventually become common knowledge.
Curtis, I suspect that several people here might be interested in hearing how the evidence pointed so obviously to this revision and how the erroneous date had come to be in the first place. While at it, you might cover also the date update for the death of Geta. Assumptions in the correctness of every detail we are told without looking into glaring problems or contradictions is always a mistake. Thank you for your role in straightening out these old problems.
Doug, Thanks for your comment. For an explanation of how the error arose and a full summary of my arguments favoring the new date, please check my thread in Forum Ancient Coins, Discussion, search Battle of Lugdunum. No time now to explain Geta's correct death date, which is not my discovery, though I am totally convinced! Julius, I'm glad you are convinced, and thanks for pointing out Sear's acceptance of my new date, which I hadn't noticed. I will have to e-mail him and ask how he reached that conclusion.
I had forgotten: David Sear arrived at the correct date through correspondence with myself, at the time he was writing his Roman Coins vol. II!
I am looking forward to reading the article - of interest is the possibility that the date of this coin might have been of use. I have also wondered why this type with the horse being led is so much more common than Septimius alone on the horse - in fact finding an example is one of my collecting goals. A beautiful specimen sold a few months ago for over $1000 - way too pricey for me! But it was beautiful..Perhaps the celator believed that the majesty of Septimius required that a soldier lead his horse? I think the example I posted came from Heritage.
I wrote a page on ADVENTVS types: http://augustuscoins.com/ed/PROFECTIO/ADVENTVS.html Here is the first coin on the page: Septimius Severus, 193-211 Struck 202. It "depicts his actual entry into the city [Rome]" [BMC p. cxlviii] Denarius. 19 mm. 3.35 grams. SEVERVS PIVS AVG, his laureate head right ADVENT AVGG, Severus on prancing horse left, preceded by soldier holding vexillum and restraining horse RIC 248 "202-210". Sear II 6255. Foss Severus 53 Take a look at the page to see other ADVENTVS types.
I am embarrassed that I forgot I had this one. It shows different letter spacings and style but adds nothing to the topic except to show another example.