This limes falsum denarius was a recent purchase from our own @John Anthony. According to Numiswiki, these limes denarii "are thought to be coins minted either officially or pseudo-officially on the fringes of the empire out of necessity. Perhaps they were used to pay soldiers on the extreme frontiers of the Roman territories or maybe to bolster the economy of regions far from the normal means of monetary distribution. Whatever the reason, many of these coins exist." Julia Domna, AD 193-217. Roman limes falsum Æ denarius, 2.26 g, 18.2 mm, 1 h. Uncertain mint but of "Laodicea" style, AD 196-202 (or later). Obv: IVLIA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right. Rev: CERERI FRVGIF, Ceres seated left, holding corn-ears in right hand and long vertical torch in left hand. Refs: Cohen 16; cf. RIC 636; cf. BMCRE 592. Although the place of mintage of these Severan limes denarii is unknown, you'll note this one is of the same style as the coins of the "Laodicea" mint (now attributed by the British Museum as being minted in Antioch), such as this one from my collection. Julia Domna, AD 193-217. Roman AR denarius, 3.87 g, 17.5 mm, 7 h. Antioch, AD 196-202 (or later). Obv: IVLIA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right. Rev: CERERI FRVGIF, Ceres seated left, holding corn-ears in right hand and long vertical torch in left hand. Refs: RIC 636; BMCRE 592; Cohen 14; RCV --; CRE 300. Note: Double die match to British Museum specimen. Here's an example from the Rome mint for comparison. Julia Domna, AD 193-217. Roman AR denarius, 2.82 g, 20.0 mm, 6 h. Rome, AD 196-202 (or later). Obv: IVLIA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust right Rev: CERERI FRVGIF, Ceres seated left, holding corn ears and torch Refs: RIC 546; BMCRE 10; Cohen 14; RCV 6576; Hill 424. Another interesting thing is this particular limes denarius of Julia Domna was known to Cohen, who cataloged it as a "petit bronze," no. 16, separate from the denarius, no. 14. Cohen apparently didn't know what to make of these limes denarii. He does the same for this limes of Plautilla (no. 11), which he calls "core of a fouree denarius or petit bronze." Let's see your limes denarii!!
I won a lot of coins last year, very cheap, no details provided in auction, but I spotted an Elagabal bronze. 2 coins were interesting This piece, very hard to photo Either a limes denarius imitating http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.4.crl.388C_denarius or the core of a fourree. The Elagabalus - suspect this is a limes Date Range: AD 218 - AD 222 Obv IMP ANTONINUS AVG, Bust of Elagabalus, laureate, draped, right Rev LIBERTAS AVGVSTI, Libertas, draped, seated left, holding pileus in extended right hand and sceptre in left hand Catalogue for the "true" denarius - RIC IV Elagabalus 115
I've got two of them for now: Limes Denarius - Hadrian - COS III (Roma) Limes Denarius - Diva Faustina I. - AETERNITAS
I sincerely hope no one is paying much of the Limes coins. In high grade, they are not worth anything approaching silver prices. The ugly ones are worth very little if anything. I have a few left but most have some feature I consider interesting. Septimius Severus 'Laodicea' left facing Clodius Albinus legend with features of Septimius and reverse of Commodus:
Here is my limes for Julia Domna - a "Mother of the Senate" type which is hard to find compared to some of her other types. The style is quite good I think; I assume it is imitating one from the Rome mint, since I don't think the Eastern mint was operating this late in her issues? Julia Domna Æ Denarius (211-217 A.D.) Rome Mint IVLIA PIA FELIX AVG draped bust rt. / MAT AVGG MAT SEN M PATR, Julia Domna standing facing, branch in right hand, scepter in left. RIC 380 [Caracalla]; RSC 114. (base metal "Limes") (2.82 grams / 19 mm) eBay Mar. 2017 $4.50
Nice JD RC! Very bothersome not knowing what the heck these things were for or even where they were from Here's what I believe is one from the republic that I picked up on the cheap Q. SICINIUS Lead Denarius, Either Rome or Mint moving with Pompey, 49 BC, PB 3.4 gr, 19 mm Obv : FORT / P R. Diademed head of Fortuna Populi Romani right. Rev : III VIR / Q SICINIVS. Palm frond and winged caduceus crossed in saltire; wreath above. Crawford 440/1. Fine Uncommon. Traces of original silvering on reverse Purchased from Biga December 2021
Interesting "coins." Coincidentally and without noticing this thread, @Roman Collector, I just posted my only limes denarius over in the Follow the Coin Theme Game thread. I bought it because (1) I thought the portrait of Geta was kind of nice, and (2) the genuine prototype of the Geta/Caracalla denarius is scarce and expensive: Caracalla Augustus & Geta Caesar, Billon/AE Limes Denarius, cast[?], unknown mint, 199-200 AD or later. Obv. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust of Caracalla right, ANTONINVS AVGVSTVS / Rev. Bareheaded, draped, and cuirassed bust of Geta right, P SEPT GETA CAES PONT. Official Prototype: RIC IV-1 Caracalla 38, RSC III Caracalla and Geta 2. 18 mm., 3.0 g.
I don't think it's difficult to imagine this coinage as something akin to US Civil War Tokens - not seeking to usurp the central authority, but simply to grease the wheels of commerce.
My feelings, too. That was why I used to have a good sized Civil War Token collection. The Limes of America! It is fun to have a Limes. Who cares if you ever “paid too much”. It is the value of the History behind it that is fun for me! Hadrian Limes RI Hadrian, AD 117-138 Æ Limes Denarius 18mm 3.5mm after AD 125 Genius stndg sacrificing altar cornucopia RIC II 173 Great Limes pick up, @Roman Collector !
Back in October, Coin Talker @tenbobbit sent me a big lot of ancients that I am still working through. Included were four limes that run the gamut of styles. This one is the finest style, a denarius of Severus Alexander, AEQVITAS reverse; the legends all match RIC 127c, and would pass if not for the obvious base metal fabric: This is Septimius Severus, with an elephant! So thrilled to get an elephant of his. Style is hard to make out on the obverse, but the elephant looks pretty good, compared to "official issues" I've seen: Faustina I, CERES reverse, I think. This one has an interesting fabric - is it possible it was cast? The flan is rather unusual, with a thick green AE patina: This one might be my favorite - it is a limes denarius at its most "unofficial". The portrait looks like teenaged Caracalla or Geta, with a reverse of the Sacrificial Implements type. So far I have not been able to find an official mint product match to it. When does limes end and barbaric imitation begin? On the reverse, the O rather looks like a Θ - an Eastern limes? Any suggestions for an attribution (official equivalent) would be appreciated: Finally, I thought this one was limes at first, but there were traces of silver shine on the highlights of an otherwise black coin. I risked an oxalic acid clean and it turned out to be silver, an official denarius, I am pretty sure (MARS PACIFERO type): Pre-cleaned: Cleaned: I've had a lot of fun with these over the past few months; I'll share the rest of the monster batch sometime in the future. Thanks, @tenbobbit !
