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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Curtis, post: 24881385, member: 26430&quot;]Actually, I think it&#039;s definitely Septimius Severus from the mint at Cappadocia, Caesarea, struck in 194 CE. Reverse legend reads:</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p>MHTΡO (left/missing) KAICAΡI (right) ЄT B (in exergue).</p><p>Translated: <i>Metropolis Caesarea / Year 2</i> = 194 CE.</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>Here&#039;s a nearly identical coin -- but with Mount Argaeus in the temple (I&#039;d catalog it as &quot;SNG von Aulock 6455 [variant?]&quot;):</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=9567269" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=9567269" rel="nofollow">https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=9567269</a></p><p><a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=985482" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=985482" rel="nofollow">https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=985482</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Mount Argaeus was very common on Caesarean coins, including in temples, but I took yours for a Baetyl because it looks like there&#039;s a crescent on top. That would make it the Baetyl of El-Gabal, which first appears with the crescent on coins of Septimius at various mints in Syria and Mesopotamia.</p><p><br /></p><p>There are also coins possibly showing a Baetyl (atop Mt. Argaeus or <a href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/moonmoth/coins/caesarea_001.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/moonmoth/coins/caesarea_001.html" rel="nofollow">on its own</a>, at least once <a href="https://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/cappadocia/caesarea/t.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/cappadocia/caesarea/t.html" rel="nofollow">for Septimius [Ganschow 436]</a>) from Cappadocia, Caesarea. So, I would still consider that very possible. It would make this a very interesting &amp; important rarity, if true.</p><p><br /></p><p>It&#039;s also possible my eyes deceive me and it&#039;s a worn Mt. Argaeus (or Agalma shrine), but it makes sense to me that it&#039;s another rarer type (possibly new). Mt Argaeus was often depicted with a star/sun above (and/or Baetyl at summit), sometimes a crescent in the field. Perhaps the crescent-topped Baetyl type is the second part of the pair, a compliment to the more usual Mt. Argaeus type? (Or third type, since another showed Agalma, the burning altar, in the temple.)</p><p><br /></p><p>That&#039;s speculative. But a specialist could say if this would be possible or if any specimens are already known.</p><p><br /></p><p>Either way, certainly Septimius of Caesarea, dated Year 2 of his rule.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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