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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Factor, post: 5303227, member: 96413&quot;]I actually did some research on this subject. As far as I know the first time coins produced in Bostra under Severus Alexander were described as cast was over 100 years ago by Hill in BMC, and everyone else is just citing his work, including Arieh Kindler. Hill had access to a limited number of coins in the British Museum collection, and all those indeed look cast. Nowadays way more specimens are available for analysis and it is probably a good time to revisit this subject. </p><p>Well, most of these coins are clearly cast, with many visible signs for that. On the other hand there are some specimens that are definitely struck, see a comparison of cast and struck coins on the pictures below:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1223629[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1223630[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1223631[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1223632[/ATTACH] </p><p>Moreover, struck and cast coins often appear to be produced with exactly same dies! </p><p>To get an answer to this puzzle, one, to my opinion, should look at the style of Bostra coins of Severus Alexander and Julia Mammea. It is quite strikingly different from the style of previous and subsequent Bostra issues. The legends are clear and uniform, the portraits are of very fine style. Overall the craftsmanship looks like that of skilled chelators from either Rome or Antioch. It is known that at the time of Severus Alexander several dies made in Rome were used in Alexandria for production of tetradrachms. In Bostra it seems to be very similar story. Dies of fine style were sent from a central mint, however local mint authorities soon realized that these dies would not last long enough to produce such a high volume emission. Thus the locals decided to cast coins with molds created with these dies![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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