Featured RARE SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS SESTERTIUS SAECULI FRUGIFERO

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Blake Davis, Dec 16, 2019.

  1. Blake Davis

    Blake Davis Well-Known Member

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    I apologize on two counts - first there is the poor photographs which I took with my phone camera. The problem is that my coins are not in the same place as where my photo equipment is - long story - this is a temporary situation and soon enough I will exchange these terrible photographs with good photographs. Second, I had trouble finding out where to do my write-up, so this is going in as a reply. I should also add another apology - that I am not certain whether it is "FRUGIF" or "FRUGIFERO" in the inscription since I wrote this up literally minutes after receiving the coin and have been unable to find another example of it except on this site.

    As I have mentioned, I collect the sestertii of Septimius Severus, and I am trying to put together as complete a collection as I possibly can - no limitation on condition, I just want one of every one he struck. It is a project that I very much doubt I will ever finish - there are simply too many rare examples, especially for the period from 200 AD to 206/7 AD when the Rome mint essentially ceased the production of sestertii for circulation for all of the imperial personages - Julia Domna, the wife, Caracalla, the son, Geta (a bit later) the other son and of course, the Emperor, Septimius Severus. But, quite frankly this just makes collecting Septimius' coins more interesting and more fun - and of course more difficult.

    Of course there are difficult to find coins for all of the emperors, but Septimius Severus is the only emperor that simply stopped striking bronze coins for a relative long period of time, except for rare presentation pieces. And those pieces are next to impossible to find - most of the ones that I have seen are in top condition and priced accordingly. In fact, through undertaking this task I have to appreciate rarity as a primary, not secondary criteria in collecting ancient coins since it is only through the purchase of relatively worn coins that I have been able to purchase some beautiful (to me) rarities. I do have some very nice examples, but in truth it is those coins which are so rare as to almost be never seen that I take the most pride.

    In addition, through collecting the coins of one emperor I have come to appreciate that coins that are often marked as common or scarce in RIC or popular thinking are in fact extraordinarily rare. At the same time, coins that are often thought of as rare are in fact not rare at all. As I said I plan on doing an article on this, but as a teaser I will give one example - I will have to expand this later since I do not have the RIC number. It is Septimius Severus with Securitas reverse (I believe IMP VIII)- a coin extremely common in bronze for Caracalla but a coin for which I have only been able to locate a handful of examples for Septimius - and have only managed to find one very worn example to purchase - and I am very happy to have that one. On the other hand, Septimius' early legionary coin - I think the second imperial bronze coin in RIC (I will give the number and a better description tomorrow), which I used to believe was quite rare is actually, if not common, is certainly not rare. I hope to put this together with data from the wonderful ACS database. But this is a digression.

    The other reason (other than the articles of Doug Smith - absent these I doubt I would ever have become so interested) that I collect coins of Septimius Severus - equally important -- is the history. After all when you come down to it what seperates this hobby from anything else is the intersection of these coins with the tapestry of events that is ancient history. And Septimius Severus's reign was FASCINATING - there is enough here for a dozen Shakespeare tragedies, and more than few comedies. It was the end of the "four good emperors" plus one- Commodus. After Commodus was murdered we have the death of Pertinax, followed by the auctioning off of the empire to Didius Julianus, then Septimius Severus makes his play for power, at first with the backing of the Senate favorite, Clodius Albinus, then after the death and defeat of of Niger, Septimius goes against Albinus. After Albinus is defeated, and some Senators are executed, a period of relative peace - but it is a peace filled with palace intrigue. We have the death of Septimius's childhood friend, a murder prompted by Septimius' son Caracalla, and the exiling of his daughter-in-law, Caracalla's wife Plautilla. Then, at the end of the reign, an expedition to Britain, a war whose real aim might well have been to bring together the two feuding sons of Septimius, Caracalla and Geta. Then, of course, the death of Septimius in Britain, almost at the hands of his son Caracalla (described by Dio Cassius) but then - probably - of natural causes. Then of course, the bloody aftermath - brother killing brother, followed by a massacre of 20,000 of Geta's adherents - and Caracalla's hapless exiled wife, probably upon the death of Septimius. The historical sources, while not terrific, are there.

    The sestertius I have pictured is extremely rare - I have only seen one other, and that one on this site, in a post by Doug Smith that I have not been able to find. I bought this one on a Polish auction site - I almost fell off my chair when I saw it, then fell off my chair when I was told I had won it, and not for the price listed as the winning bid but for a fraction of that - I still do not understand how that happened. It goes on to prove once more that knowledge is still critical in this hobby and that there are great coins to be found out there for the diligent collector. The place where I got this coin is well off the beaten track - but here it was, worn, but....THERE...but fortunately of interest only to a collector like me, who scours the listings.

    This coin is interesting for a number of reasons - first there is the reverse. This same reverse is common for sestertii of Clodius Albinus, and I agree with other assertions that this might be the reason for its scarcity, it was that Septimius may have wanted to get away from anything that reminded him of the hated Albinus.

    There is also the obverse portrait- I am not 100% certain but I believe that there are a number of obverses with this same die. In fact, that is something I have noticed about Septimius' early sestertii - obverse dies seemed to be used for as many as four different reverses - this will be the topic of another article. This may account for the fact that the coins are seen so often in worn condition. Aside from the fact that the relief appears to be low, the dies could perhaps have been overused. I do not know enough about what happens to dies when they get worn to know if this happens.

    In any event, I was really pleased to pick up this one - and until it arrived from Poland a month after being sent I really couldn't believe that it would ever get here. Condition? Just not that important to me - if this was in a great shape it would be sitting in someone else's collection!
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 19, 2020
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  3. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    My coin was first posted with my question about its strange surfaces (a question never answered). I did not bother to search for the link but here is the photo. These two coins could not be more different. Mine is close to EF and full flan with terrible (1/5?) surfaces. Blake's coin is Fine with what I would call exceptional, for these, surfaces. Neither of us felt we could be in a position to be picky. Those of you who would not want either of these will not be likely to own one in the foreseeable future. My coin with Blake's coin's surfaces would be a Triton sale candidate but I doubt either of us would sell it if we had it.
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  4. Limes

    Limes Well-Known Member

    Congratz on the neat win, @Blake Davis. It's a nice feeling getting your hands on a rarity that others missed!
    I don't own a sestertius of Septimius Severus, but i can throw in a sestertius of Caracalla, the bad-boy son. It has similar bumpy surfaces as the specimen of @dougsmit. That's why i was the only one going for it, i guess. I really like the portrait.
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  5. maridvnvm

    maridvnvm Well-Known Member

    I can't compete with these bronzes. My only example of the type was made of silver.

    Denarius
    Obv:– IMP CAE L SEP-T SEV PERT AVG. Laureate head right
    Rev:– SAEC FRVGIF COS, Saeculum Frugiferum., radiate, standing left, holding winged caduceus and trident
    Minted in Rome. A.D. 193
    Reference:– BMCRE -. RIC IV 19 (Rated Rare); RSC 622.

    About 8 examples from 2 reverse dies known to Curtis Clay. This example from a different reverse die to the British Museum example

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  6. Blake Davis

    Blake Davis Well-Known Member

    This is a REALLY lovely example - I did not know these are also rare in silver - I have found that rarity is an extremely attractive attribute especially since it is something that is based on knowledge- in other words no one is going to erroneously offer a high grade coin since condition is immediately evident. Rarity, on the other hand, is based on knowledge - something which not everyone may have - or notice. I have rare coins that sold at absurdly cheap priced - high grade coins - the very few I have since I collect imperial bronzes - I paid close to market price. The exception to that are coins I’ve had repatinated but that is another article and a controversial topic!
     
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  7. Blake Davis

    Blake Davis Well-Known Member


    For those who like the coins of Septimius Severus there is a HUGE Very HEAVY example of this type being sold by Naville Numismatics zzz
    I forget if it was 37 grams and 33 millimeters or the reverse 37 millimeters and 32 or 33 grams

    The auctions ends in six days or so. The opening bid of 50 pounds allowed me to very briefly think it would be affordable. It is now 350 pounds and therefore out of my league especially since I already have an example. My guess is it will go for twice that much and it would be worth it as it is a beautiful medallic example of a very rare coin. An obverse die match to my coin too which illustrates something about rarity. Still it is a great coin ....both of them I mean. If it is 37 grams it is the heaviest sestertius of Septimius I have come across - in fact I have only come across one sestertius that was heavier - an early Commodus I foolishly sold. A Divvus issue of Faustian I was a close second.

    What was the heaviest sestertius you have come across?
     
    Last edited: Apr 19, 2020
  8. Alegandron

    Alegandron "ΤΩΙ ΚΡΑΤΙΣΤΩΙ..." ΜΕΓΑΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ, June 323 BCE

  9. Blake Davis

    Blake Davis Well-Known Member

    Too many typos!
     
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