A Rare(?) Septimius Severus Denarius from the Postal Commemoration Society (and a Trajan Drachm)

A couple years ago I bought one of those Postal Commemoration Society ancient coin packages - "Ancient Silver Coinage" consisting of a Roman Empire denarius and an Illyria drachm of the common cow-calf type. The coins came packaged in a fancy folder with some potted history of Greece and Rome, certificate of authenticity (of course), as well as an original advertising flyer stating this sold for $149.00 (available in four easy payments to boot). I posted some photos of the fancy packaging as thumbnails so this post isn't a yard long.

I did not pay retail for this - I got it on eBay for $22.50 - which seemed like a good price for the two coins. The Illyria drachm was pretty mediocre, although I like the wildly off-center reverse strike. The denarius, which I liked for its nice portrait, appeared to be one of the common Victory types of Septimius Severus. When I got it in hand and started looking to attribute it, I was surprised to find, from what I could find online, that it is noted as "rare" with a Reka Devina hoard reference (if my attribution is correct - I welcome corrections). The attribution below is from Wildwinds via George Clegg.





Septimius Severus (193-194 A.D.) L SEPT SEV PERT AVG IMP III laureate head right / VICT AVG TR P II COS II PP, Victory advancing rt., holding wreath and palm. RIC 38A; Reka Devnia hoard, p. 103 rated rare

I realize "rare" ancient coin types do not translate into vast fortunes. But I thought it interesting, that the Postal Commemoration Society doesn't, apparently, go through their material looking for rare reverse types. My guess is they check to make sure there are no Caligulas in the batch before they start packaging them up. This makes good business sense I think, since "rare" types such as this one might not command much of a premium and the administrative cost of tracking down every Pietas and Annona and Victory would be prohibitive.

Along the same lines, I recently picked up on eBay a supposed denarius of Trajan which originally sold for $39.99 - not sure who was selling these, but the eBay seller included what appears to be a magazine ad clipping. I paid $19.99 (it was a buy it now sale). I went for it because, after looking it over, I realized the legends were in Greek. Not a denarius for sure. I know nothing about Roman provincials, but it interested me, so I went for it.




Cappadocia - CaesareaDrachm of Trajan (112-117 A.D.) AYTOKP KAIC NEP TPAIANOC CEB ΓEPM ΔAK, laureate & cuirassed bust right / ΔHMAPXE ΞYΠATOC, clasped hands, legionary standard on prow. Syd 223; Metcalf 83a (?)

I am not entirely sure about that attribution - there are varieties. From what I can tell this is the "scarce" bust type, but I am unsure about that. Condition is pretty lousy (not, as originally advertised, "nice very fine"), although it looks slightly better in hand (the "clasped hands" reverse is not quite as cruddy as the photo shows, but it is pretty cruddy). It's my first silver Roman Provincial.

Again, I thought it interesting that a drachm got mixed in with a batch of denarii for one of those ancient coin magazine specials. I was wondering if anybody else out there have found a rare gem (or an oddity) amongst the fancy-packaged (and pricy) ancients?

 

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you did it great, now are the coins to expensiv

 

$22.50? you didn't get hurt. they lQQk fine to me.

 

Yeah, I was pretty happy with them. My only problem on the Postal Commemorative stuff was that the packaging is so pretty I hated to take it apart.

 

be happy with you coins

 

ahh well.. i hate to take anything out of its container too, pretty or not, but it's easier to take pics of.

 

Ditto. They all look good to me. I really like that SS reverse. Very interesting.

 

i like my coin you see the armor on the elephant, oke not my show
no attention to me

 

I've been looking for one of these. There has been some discussion about what the "checked" markings represent. Elephant skin, armor, or something else. I would like to find one some day.

 

Any elephant ancient would be a great thing to have. Mostly I have horses and a few eagles.

 

22.50 well spent!

 

there are some elephants mabye i can help

 

is this a good elephant for your you
cost 125 dollar/ iff you like it / you get the vendor where you can buy it

 

Reka Devnia rates this as a 6 which is not a high number but not exactly super rare either. There were several types made in a rather short time so none of them are common. I think a lot of the problem is that Cohen omitted the PP in his listing giving confusion as to whether the rare coins were with or without PP on the die or just so off center you could not tell. This coin is clearly PP but not so clearly IMPIII. Cohen missed there being IMPII coins. Rare or not, you may have trouble finding someone to pay extra for a coin that is not readable with certainty. Workmanship was bad in Rome that year. I'd say your coin was a good buy for the price but not something that will send the kids to college. I'm very hard on coins missing that much legend but most people are not and the metal looks excellent. I have very few IMPIII Rome coins (I like the Eastern mints) and know rather little about them.

Below is a more clear than average coin reading IMP II and PP. It was not in Cohen, RD or RIC. No work gets them all. I paid $58 for it but most of that was because it was a well centered coin from a period where most coins were not. IMO, that was a bargain. It is not what people want for their only Septimius and not what Septimius specialists chase. No marketplace respect goes with rarity and we don't get too worked up over things RIC missed or listed incorrectly.

 

Thanks, but I'm looking for the elephant with a distinct "checked" skin/armor. I'll keep looking, but thanks for the help.

 

Waffle House of Coins

 

Thank you for that thorough evaluation - I've really enjoyed your website, and it, and postings throughout the Forum have given me a new appreciation of Septimius Severus's coins. The small ragged flans and sometimes iffy workmanship (as in my "Reka" example) can be off-putting, but the artwork is often spectacular, perhaps the best since the days of Hadrian. I'm paying more attention (and spending too much money) on these Severans.

 

@Marsyas Mike - Really cool captures for an excellent price! I do not specialize in Roman Empire coins, but I would had snagged them for the deal you got. How many "antiques" can you get for approx $20? Let alone an antique that is over 1800 years old?

I have only ONE SS:

RI Septimus Severus 193-211 AR Denarius Genius Sacrificing

And a few Trajans, since I like him. Here is one:

RI Trajan CE 98-117 AR drachm Struck CE 114-116 Arabia Petraea Bostra - Camel SNG ANS 1158
(This would be a GREAT promotion if I got it in a pack of cigarettes... but I do not smoke...)

 

I finally dug these coins out of the Postal Commemorative Society packaging (it wasn't easy). Upon looking at the Septimius Severus denarius, I am thinking that the obverse might be a die match to the one Doug posted here (?) Details on the bust and lettering sure look the same to me (see how the laureate ties run into the P, the ear, etc.). The reverses look like a match too, although quite as convincing - the strike characteristics might affect this?

If this is a match, I am very excited - I've never "die matched" anything before. Below are "out of the package" photos.

Hope it is okay to resurrect an antique post like this.

 

I see the possible match but would have to see the two photos side by side and same size to have a certain opinion (which might still be wrong). These coins are so often on small flans that it is easy to see how catalogs miss some things. Any IMP II Rome mint coin is a keeper. Congratulations on the sleuth work.