I picked up this large, provincial coin of Otacilia Severa at one of the recent FUN shows. I was attracted by the interesting patina, which provides a bold contrast between the adhered earth and the toned bronze. Is this a real patina, who knows? I bought it from one of my favorite dealers, Herakles Numismatics, who had no other coins that looked like this. Otacilia Severa, Augusta AD 244-249, AE32, Wife of Philip I Cilicia, Seleucia ad Calycadnum Obverse: ΩTAKIΛ CЄVHPA ЄVC CЄBAC. Diademed, draped, bust right. Countermark monogram in right field. Reverse: CЄΛЄVKЄΩN TΩN ΠP KAΛVK / ЄΛЄVΘЄ - PAC. Nike advancing left, holding wreath and palm frond. References: SNG France 1043-5. For c/m: Howgego 618. The name "Seleucia ad Calycadnum" piqued my curiosity as I had no idea what that meant or where it was. I cribbed the following tidbits from Wikipedia: "Located a few miles from the mouth of the Calycadnus River (in modern day Turkey), Seleucia was founded by Seleucus I Nicator in the early 3rd century BCE. The city grew to include the nearby settlement of Holmi which had been established earlier as an Ionian colony but being on the coast was vulnerable to raiders and pirates. The new city up the river was doubtless seen as safer against attacks from the sea so Seleucia achieved considerable commercial prosperity as a port for this corner of Cilicia, and was even a rival of Tarsus." "Cilicia thrived as a province of the Romans, and Seleucia became a religious center with a renowned 2nd century Temple of Jupiter. It was also the site of a noted school of philosophy and literature, the birthplace of peripatetics Athenaeus and Xenarchus. The cities stone bridge was built by the governor L.Octavius Memor in 77 AD." The Romans produced a series of large and interesting coins in this city. You could do worse than to specialize in coins of this city. https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?term=Seleucia ad Calycadnum&category Please post your coins of Seleucia ad Calycadnum or Otacilia Severa.
Wow! Big ol' bronze! I like the Nike! Here's my biggest Otacilia Severa provincial: Otacilia Severa, AD 244-249 Roman provincial Æ 27 mm, 10.88 g Ionia, Metropolis, AD 244-249 Obv: ΜΑΡ ΩΤΑ CЄΥΗΡΑ, diademed and draped bust right Rev: ΜΑΡ CΤΡ ΑΠΡΩΝΙΑΝȣ ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟΛЄΙ-ΤΩΝ, Goddess standing left, holding Athena Promachos (Ἀθηνᾶ Πρόμαχος) and cornucopiae Refs: SGI 4011; SNG Von Aulock 2070; SNG Copenhagen --; SNG München --.
It's a nice provincial and i do like the patina on it!.. i can never pass up showing the beautiful obverse portrait of her on this Roman mint sest.
My only Otacilia Severa: Silver Double Denarius Rome mint, A.D. 246-248 Obv: M OTACIL SEVERA AVG Rev: CONCORDIA AVGG - Concordia, seated left, holding patera and double cornucopiae RIC (Philip I) 125(c) 23mm, 3.9g.
Great OP coin, and all others as well!! I'm on the hunt for a Otacillia of silver to go with my Phils. However, I have a couple secret Santa coins to get first!
A most interesting OP coin. My family picture : For those interested in more details, they are on these pages in my Forvm gallery : Imperial : http://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=305 Provincial : http://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=237 Q
Great examples of Otacilia Severa - I only have one, a sestertius. Probably the nicest sestertius I have in my small, low-grade collection. I think this is the same as Julius Germanicus above? Otacilia Severa (wife of Philip I the Arab) Rome Mint - Æ Sestertius (244-249 A.D.) MARCIA OTACIL SEVERA AVG, draped bust right / CONCORDIA AVGG, S C in ex., Concordia seated with patera & double cornucopia. RIC IV 203a (Philip I) (16.99 grams / 29 mm)
My favorite Otacilias are her Antioch mint antoniniani and the hippos from the 1000 year celebration. Of course someone bought the X6 sestertius version which is much better than my little silver. Hippos come in nose up and nose down styles. I like both.
