Portrait of Septimius Severus

I spent more time buying coins then posting on this forum, so it's time to show one of my new purchases I received a couple of days ago

I bought this coin only for the beautiful portrait.Who can beat this portrait from the good old ruler from Africa ?



Septimius Severus, denarius
Obv. L SEPT SEV AVG IMP XI PART MAX, bust right.
Rev. VICTORIAE AVGG FEL, Victory advancing left, holding open wreath in both hands over shield set on low base.
RIC 516.
2.80 g, 15 mm.

And of course the reverse.....

 

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I think that your attribution is incorrect. It is Rome mint rather than Laodicea. RIC 144b?

Here is my Laodicea example.

Septimius Severus denarius

Obv:- L SEPT SEV AVG IMP XI PART MAX, Laureate head right
Rev:- VICTORIAE AVGG FEL, Victory flying left holding wreath with both hands over shield set on low base
Minted in Laodicea-ad-Mare. A.D. 198 - 202
Ref:– BMCRE 678. RIC 516. RSC 719
ex Roger Bickford-Smith Collection, ex Barry Murphy, ex Forvm
3.119g, 18.5mm, 0o

 

Here's a Severus/Neptune combination, perhaps associated with his journey to Britannia.





And of course, his face-on portrait from the famous wood and gesso tondo:

 

Just about as good as you can ask for. Strike, centering and artistry! YoWzA
Here's my best Sheptimiush with a pretty cool toning, if I say so myself:

Septimius Severus

(193-211 AD). AR Denarius (19 mm, 3.20 g), Roma, 200 AD. Obv. SEVERVS AVG PART MAX, laureate head right.Rev. PM TR P VIII COS II PP, Victory advancing left, holding open wreath over shield set on low base. RIC 150. Nice portrait. Good very fine.Former: AuctionesGmbH

 

My vote is on this coin....after all it is an Ex. Sallent. I can never forget such a beautiful portrait of S. Severus.

Here's the image of it from my archives, before it became an @ancient coin hunter coin.



Sorry @Marsman , you've been beat. Still, you do have a very beautiful OP coin.

 

That's right - it's an ex - @Sallent coin. Pretty sweet

 

Do I see damage over the ear flattening the curls and a bit of the wreath? It is a nice coin overall and much better than mine of the type. I like the reverse on it.

I have trouble separating in my mind the 'best' coins in a condition sense and those which have what I view as my favorite style. This one has a nice obverse but the reverse returns it to a station I could afford.

 

Some of Septimius Severus' portraiture is masterful - nice examples on this post. I have a few circulated ones -

 

I've been lucky to get some great portrait coins of Septimius Severus from provincial mints. The coin pictured below is one of my favorites. It's a Tet from Laodicea ad Mare, AD 208-209, 14.48 gm., Prieur 1151. Only 3 cited by Prieur.

 

Now that is one chubby Victory!!

That is indeed a portrait in fine style!

What an interesting portrait! Talented die-engraver, indeed!

Here's my most interesting Severus portrait because he looks like a toddler wearing a fake beard!

 

I collect coins of Septimius Severus with a focus on certain issues from eastern mints. As such I generally have to accept my coins in any condition that I can find them. Every now and again I do stumble across coins in better condition but the condition of the coin isn't generally of interest to me. In fact neither is "nice style" as these eastern coins are not as artistically pleasant as those from Rome.

The majority of coins above are from Rome as the style of this mint appeals to general collectors. I don't focus on Rome mint issues at all. I do acquire some as I stumble along though they are generally mediocre examples.

I will share a few coins that I think are towards the better end of my collection in terms of condition. Style wise they are never going to appeal to most of you out there but that leaves this little sector of collecting for the few of us who focus on it which suits me just fine.

What is probably my best condition Rome mint coin came as part of a mixed lot which had another coin that I wanted.

Obv:– L SEPT SEV PERT AVG IMP IIII, laureate head right
Rev:– MARS PACATOR, Mars standing left, holding branch and spear
Minted in Rome. A.D. 194-195
Reference(s) – Cohen 309. RIC 45

The coin is struck well enough but suffers from the tighter flan that creeps in during this period.



The Alexandrian portraits are never going to win beauty prizes. This one is probably my nicest portrait.

Obv:– IMP CAE L SEP SEV PERT AVG, Laureate head right
Rev:– TR P IIII IMP II COS, Mars standing right, resting on spear and shield
Minted in Alexandria, A.D. 194
References:– BMCRE -, RIC -, RSC -. cf. RIN (Rivista Italiana di Nvmismatica Vol. XCVI (1994/1995).



The "Emesa" style is never going to win any beauty prizes but there are some that are less unappealing than others.

Obv:– IMP CAE L SEP SEV PERT AVG COS II, Laureate head right
Rev:– INVICTO IMP, Trophy with captured arms below
Minted in Emesa, A.D. 194 – 195
References:– RIC 389 (Scarce), RSC 232



The early "Laodicea-ad-Mare" styles take even more getting used to.

Obv:– L SEPT SEV P-ERTE AVG IMP - II, Laureate head right
Rev:– FORT R-DVC, Fortuna (Hilaritas), standing front, head left, holding long palm and cornucopiae
Minted in Laodicea-ad-Mare, A.D. 194
References:– RIC 453 var. (Scarce), RSC 157

I liked this one so much that I made it my avatar.



The early IMP VIII has a very wide range of style. This one is probably less appealing to most.

Obv:– L SEPT SEV PERT AVG IMP VII-I, Laureate head right
Rev:– ARAB ADIABENIC, Victory advancing left holding wreath and palm (R of ARAB corrected over B)
Minted in Laodicea-ad-Mare. A.D. 196-197
Ref:– Cohen -, BMCRE -, RIC -.



When "Laodicea-ad-Mare" aligned the output more with the Rome mint then the styles veer more towards a general appeal.

Obv:– L SEP SEVERVS PER AVG PIV IMP XI PAR P M, laureate head right
Rev:– AR AD [T]R P VI COS II P P, Victory walking left, holding wreath in right hand, palm in left
Eastern mint. A.D. 198
Reference:– BMCRE page 280 *, citing RD page 105. RIC 494a corr

 

My current Severus is from the East, Laodicean mint...



I like the style of the portrait

 

Since most of the coins posted on this thread are denarii I'd like to post my only denarius of Septimius Severus below. It is a common type struck at the Rome Mint in AD 201, 19 mm, that I bought slabbed at a Heritage auction. The reverse of the coin intrigued me with Severus sacrificing over a flaming altar & holding a spear in his left hand. The die has been superbly engraved, leaving no doubt the standing figure is Severus. The reverse inscription: RESTITVTOR VRBIS translates Restorer of the City (Rome). Sear 6357.

 

Very nice OP portrait !


Septimius Severus, Denarius - Rome mint, AD 200
SEVERVS AVG PART MAX, laureate head right
VIRTVS AVGG, Virtus standing left, holding victory and leaning on shield
3,41 gr, 19 mm
Ref : Cohen # 761, RIC # 171a

Q

 

How very many Severus coins. But a wicked voice in my ear says that the condition of some are a little bit too good !!!

 

Wonderful new addition @Marsman

 

I tend to like naturalistic portraits, which are tough to get for Sep Sev. I think @Ryro's, @ancient coin hunter's (ex @Sallent) and @dougsmit's Fortuna denarius are exceptional in this respect.

I'm still looking, but here are my two most naturalistic at the moment.

Early Rome mint, usual tight flan [edit: typical tight flans are from 195-7]:


Late VICTORIAE BRITTANNICAE as:


I think the best portraits are probably on sestertii.

 

I agree with very little said in this entire thread. It comes at the same time as the Glasvoda note posted by Ken Dorney which IMHO is attempting to promote day trading in the hobby. The old saying is beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I find beauty in places others do not including Martin whose collecting interests are closer to mine tan anyone else here. I do not accept the standard view that all portraits of George Washington must be judged by how accurately they simulate the Gilbert Stuart. There are certainly better and lesser dies in any group but I can not dismiss Emesa as poor because it is not like the Roman. I rather like the Alexandrian style, too, but like Martin, I do not collect these because I like the style. I do feel we need to study and represent in our collections the good and the bad dies as well as the coins that simply do not come in high grade.

This is not an early coin by my definition. There are many, many 193 AD coins. Relatively few of them are on really dumpy flans. There are more 'different' 193 portraits from Rome than the rest of the reign. None of them look like the later standard but I don't see them as better or defective. They are what they are and I collect them. These ten coins are all from Rome and all 193. Some are obviously earlier, show better craftsmanship or have more beauty in a 2019 sense. I have no idea which captures Septimius most accurately since all we have are other artists' ideas. These are by now means the best or the worst or even representative. They are just evidence.

 

OK, I take it back. Martin said (in this thread) that coins dating from 195-7 were often dumpy and I had remembered this as "early Rome" in my non-specialist brain. I stand corrected that the earliest Rome coins are not typically dumpy, just the earliesh coins from slightly after that.

Not sure if your general contrariness with the thread includes my enjoyment of what I called "naturalistic portraits." Myself I don't disagree with anything you said, and I certainly didn't mean to denigrate other styles (which I also like!). By "naturalistic" I didn't mean "accurate" - just "lifelike" in the sense that some portrait styles look more like a real person than others. They can be naturalistic in this sense without looking like the person they portray. (Maybe I'll start a thread on this topic.)

From your 10 coins just above, I really like the styles of #3, 4, 7, and 8, but would say that only #7 is naturalistic. And of course I agree that "good style" is far from the only reason to include a coin in one's collection!

Some other Sep Sevs of mine that I enjoy very much:









I share your annoyance with the Gasvoda market-talk email, btw. Definitely made me cranky.