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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;seth77, post: 8322017, member: 56653&quot;]As I said someplace else, I have found a liking in Roman provincial coinage, as it reminds me of why I fell in love with feudal coinage: the amount of variation and specific meaning stored into these is unmatched. Plus, the large denominations, the &#039;multiple assaria&#039; are struck in the nice yellow brass-orichalcum that makes them look like offshoots of the sestertius, which is such a quintessential Roman symbol.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here is Nisibis in Mesopotamia for Otacilia Severa:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1474259[/ATTACH] </p><p>AE22mm 10g brass (orichalcum) (multiple) assarion, minted at Nisibis ca. 247-9.</p><p>[ΜΑΡ ΩΤΑΚΙΛ Ϲ]ƐΟΥΗΡΑΝ ϹƐΒ; diademed and draped bust of Otacilia Severa, r., crescent at shoulders</p><p>ΙΟΥ ϹƐΠ ΚΟΛΩ ΝƐϹΙΒΙ ΜΗΤ; temple with arched pediment and four columns enclosing draped, veiled and turreted Tyche seated facing, with ram leaping r. above her; below, river god (Mygdonius) swimming r.</p><p><br /></p><p>RPC VIII, unassigned <a href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/type/2575" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/type/2575" rel="nofollow">2575</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Nisibis minted a copious local provincial coinage in the first half of the 3rd century starting with the late Severan period until the reign of Philip &#039;the Arab&#039; in 249. This is the most eastern provincial mint of the Empire in Mesopotamia and it minted off and on but in very large quantities -- a hint to the rich commerce that took place here between Romans and Persians. After the death of Severus Alexander the city and the whole area of Mesopotamia was disputed between the Roman Empire and the Sasanian Empire, being overrun by the Persians in 235-6/241 and then re-attached to Rome in 244. This period between 244 and 249 saw the most abundant coinage at Nisibis, the large brass-orichalcum multiple assarion used as the local variant of the Imperial sestertius. As with many other provincial coinages, this one also focuses on the specific local cult, with the statue of Tyche and the river god Mygdonius at its feet, inside its temple.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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