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<p>[QUOTE="curtislclay, post: 6439793, member: 89514"]Blake,</p><p><br /></p><p>You are right, MARTI VLTORI is the rarest sestertius rev. type of Caracalla as Caesar. By 1972 I knew only five specimens, two in Vienna, one in Paris, one in the Mazzini catalogue, and one in my collection, that I sold to the BM in 1992 and that you have seen in their online catalogue. These five examples were from just one obv. and three rev. dies. </p><p><br /></p><p>However, new specimens do turn up at a rate of maybe one or two a decade. Since 1972 I have acquired three additional specimens for my collection, two from the same obv. die as the original five coins, and one from a different obv. die. Your new example too is from that second obv. die, and is among the nicest surviving because of the sharp portrait and rev. type, despite the missing legend due to undersize flan. Could you show us your SECVRITAS PERPETVA sestertius from the same obv. die?</p><p><br /></p><p>The weights of sestertii of these years vary a lot, and I don't think those of Caracalla as Caesar were deliberately lighter than the contemporary pieces of Septimius and Domna. For Caracalla's MARTI VLTORI type, my three new coins weigh 20.71, 21.42, and 25.78 g., while the Mazzini spec., a fairly broad piece in VF condition, easily the finest known, weighs 29.67 g.! Yours at 14.36 g. is certainly underweight, but I think not deliberately.</p><p><br /></p><p>The RIC listing of Caracalla's bronze coins as Caesar is somewhat misleading, because it doesn't separate the obviously earlier obv. legend, without PONTIF, from the clearly later obv. legend, with that priestly title. The following is the correct order of the rev. types according to my 1972 thesis:</p><p><br /></p><p>Caracalla proclaimed Caesar, Dec. 195. Rev. types without PONTIF:</p><p><br /></p><p>SEVERI AVG PII FIL, Sacrificial implements</p><p>SPEI PERPETVAE</p><p>SECVRITAS PERPETVA, Minerva standing</p><p>PRINCIPI IVVENTVTIS, Prince standing beside trophy (a mule with this obv. legend)</p><p><br /></p><p>Caracalla proclaimed Pontifex, Princeps Iuventutis and Imperator Destinatus, c. late spring 197. Rev. types with PONTIF:</p><p><br /></p><p>SECVRITAS PERPETVA, Minerva standing as earlier</p><p>PRINCIPI IVVENTVTIS, Prince standing beside trophy</p><p>MARTI VLTORI</p><p><br /></p><p>The MARTI VLTORI type must have lasted until early in 198, alongside the latest IMP X sestertii of Septimius. On 28 Jan. 198 Septimius captured Ctesiphon and was saluted IMP XI PART MAX, while Caracalla was proclaimed Augustus and Geta Caesar. When this news reached Rome, the period of minimal bronze coinage began: all middle bronzes and especially all sestertii bearing the new titles are very rare, a situation which persisted until a reasonably substantial production of bronze coins was resumed late in 209. Note that this period of scanty bronze production lasted from fairly early in 198 until near the end of 209, a few years longer than you state above.</p><p><br /></p><p>My want list would certainly include the two sestertii you name, but I wouldn't specify rev. types: any TR P XX sestertius of Caracalla, since I have none so far, and any middle-period sestertius of Septimius and family that I do not already have. I acquired my first middle-period Severan sestertius, a TR P X Galley coin of Caracalla, c. 1971 from Seaby, and have since been able to raise the total to 38: 14 Septimius, 5 Domna, 10 Caracalla, and 9 Geta Caesar. If I could reach 43, I would tie Paris for the highest number of middle-period Severan sestertii in any collection! They wouldn't all be able to lie in my trays, however, since I sold my first 11 pieces to the BM in 1992.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="curtislclay, post: 6439793, member: 89514"]Blake, You are right, MARTI VLTORI is the rarest sestertius rev. type of Caracalla as Caesar. By 1972 I knew only five specimens, two in Vienna, one in Paris, one in the Mazzini catalogue, and one in my collection, that I sold to the BM in 1992 and that you have seen in their online catalogue. These five examples were from just one obv. and three rev. dies. However, new specimens do turn up at a rate of maybe one or two a decade. Since 1972 I have acquired three additional specimens for my collection, two from the same obv. die as the original five coins, and one from a different obv. die. Your new example too is from that second obv. die, and is among the nicest surviving because of the sharp portrait and rev. type, despite the missing legend due to undersize flan. Could you show us your SECVRITAS PERPETVA sestertius from the same obv. die? The weights of sestertii of these years vary a lot, and I don't think those of Caracalla as Caesar were deliberately lighter than the contemporary pieces of Septimius and Domna. For Caracalla's MARTI VLTORI type, my three new coins weigh 20.71, 21.42, and 25.78 g., while the Mazzini spec., a fairly broad piece in VF condition, easily the finest known, weighs 29.67 g.! Yours at 14.36 g. is certainly underweight, but I think not deliberately. The RIC listing of Caracalla's bronze coins as Caesar is somewhat misleading, because it doesn't separate the obviously earlier obv. legend, without PONTIF, from the clearly later obv. legend, with that priestly title. The following is the correct order of the rev. types according to my 1972 thesis: Caracalla proclaimed Caesar, Dec. 195. Rev. types without PONTIF: SEVERI AVG PII FIL, Sacrificial implements SPEI PERPETVAE SECVRITAS PERPETVA, Minerva standing PRINCIPI IVVENTVTIS, Prince standing beside trophy (a mule with this obv. legend) Caracalla proclaimed Pontifex, Princeps Iuventutis and Imperator Destinatus, c. late spring 197. Rev. types with PONTIF: SECVRITAS PERPETVA, Minerva standing as earlier PRINCIPI IVVENTVTIS, Prince standing beside trophy MARTI VLTORI The MARTI VLTORI type must have lasted until early in 198, alongside the latest IMP X sestertii of Septimius. On 28 Jan. 198 Septimius captured Ctesiphon and was saluted IMP XI PART MAX, while Caracalla was proclaimed Augustus and Geta Caesar. When this news reached Rome, the period of minimal bronze coinage began: all middle bronzes and especially all sestertii bearing the new titles are very rare, a situation which persisted until a reasonably substantial production of bronze coins was resumed late in 209. Note that this period of scanty bronze production lasted from fairly early in 198 until near the end of 209, a few years longer than you state above. My want list would certainly include the two sestertii you name, but I wouldn't specify rev. types: any TR P XX sestertius of Caracalla, since I have none so far, and any middle-period sestertius of Septimius and family that I do not already have. I acquired my first middle-period Severan sestertius, a TR P X Galley coin of Caracalla, c. 1971 from Seaby, and have since been able to raise the total to 38: 14 Septimius, 5 Domna, 10 Caracalla, and 9 Geta Caesar. If I could reach 43, I would tie Paris for the highest number of middle-period Severan sestertii in any collection! They wouldn't all be able to lie in my trays, however, since I sold my first 11 pieces to the BM in 1992.[/QUOTE]
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