Septimius September!

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Roman Collector, Sep 1, 2021.

  1. Terence Cheesman

    Terence Cheesman Well-Known Member

    Septimius Severus Ae "Sestertius" Antioch in Pisidia 205-211 AD Obv. Head right laureate Rv. Victory flying right holding trophy in both hands Krzyzanowska XXXI/ 41 22.62 grams 30 mm Photo by W. Hansen pisidant septsev5.jpg If Krzyzanowska's chronology is correct circa 205 AD the mint of Antioch in Pisidia started minting a series of impressively large Ae's These coins are marked with the letters S R. The smaller denominations do not have this distinction. There has been some speculation on this and I wonder if the letters might signal that the coins are to be tariffed as Roman sestertii. The coin has features that are very novel as well as surprisingly static. The obverse legend contans PER which stands for Pertinax a name not seen on the coins of Septimius from the mint of Rome since 201 AD whereas the DDD NNN on the reverse does make a strong case that the coin wasn't minted until 209 AD when Geta became an Augustus.
     
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  3. Orielensis

    Orielensis Well-Known Member

    For September 16th, I have this Pax denarius. The Rome mint didn't do a good job with this coin. Needless to say, the "eternal peace" didn't last very long:
    Rom – Septimius Severus, denar, Pax (neuestes Foto).png
    Septimius Severus, Roman Empire, denarius, 197–200 AD, Rome mint. Obv: [L SEPT SEV PERT] AVG IMP X, head of Septimius Severus, laureate, r. Rev: [PACI] AETERNAE, Pax seated l., holding branch and sceptre. 16mm, 2.67g. Ref: RIC IV.1 Septimius Severus 118.
     
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  4. Mikenwuf

    Mikenwuf Active Member

    Here's mine.
     

    Attached Files:

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  5. Marsyas Mike

    Marsyas Mike Well-Known Member

    September 17th - like the one posted by @Orielensis above - same iffy workmanship at the mint. The flan on this is rather dumpy and at 3.44 grams, somewhat heavy for the era, I think:

    Septimius Severus - Den PACI seated RIC 118 Oct 2017 (0).jpg
    Septimius Severus Denarius
    (197-198 A.D.)
    Rome Mint

    [L SEPT S]EV PERT AVG IMP [X], laureate head right / [PACI AETER]NAE, Pax seated left, holding branch and scepter.
    RIC 118; RSC 357; BMC 353
    (3.44 grams / 15 mm)
    eBay Oct. 2017
     
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  6. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    17. While my main interest is the denarius series issued from the Alexandria, I am also attracted to the Provincials also issued from that mint in the name of Septimius Severus. The tetradrachms have been known for a long time (mostly from the work of Dattari) but it was only about 100 years ago that a strange looking group of denarii were recognized as being from this mint also. This discovery is based on the matching style of the two coin series. Over the last several years I have shown some of the Alexandria mint denarii (my postings for days 3 and 4 above in this thread) my postings for the tetradrachms has concentrated on my examples of the early period during the time the mint was making both Imperial denarii and Provincial tetradrachms. Today's offering from me is from early in the period after the making of denarii had ceased. Relatively few tetradrachms of Septimius have survived from this period. Few enough were made that we find examples of die links showing one obverse die used over more than one year. I wish I could show an example of this but I do not own the coins. Starting in year five most types are rated R5 in Emmett. The Serapis below is known from only years 5 and 6. Both are R5 (one or two published specimens). How many exist is only a guess. The portrait style is a hold over from the previous years.
    pa1130fd3423.jpg

    My latest issue for Septimius is an eagle from year 9. Coins from the next decade are all very rare. The portraits are a bit different from the earlier suggesting, to me, a different 'hand'. Emmett list none from several of those years. I feel lucky to have the ones I have. These later coins changed the obverse legend to a long series of abbreviations and coins with fully legible legends are very rare. My coins are average. I would love to have one from any later year. The late period legend reads:
    ΑVΤ Κ Λ CΕΠ CΕVΗ ΕVCΕ ΠΕΡΤ CΕΒ ΑΡΑ ΑΔΙ
    Imperator (Autocrator) Caesar Lucius Septimius Severus Pius Pertinax Augustus (Sebastos) defeater of the Arabs and Adiabene
    While these conquests are mentioned on some Rome mint coins, they stop in the later years. I suspect that the few tetradrachms made after mine utilized left over dies from this middle period.
    pa1170fd3424.jpg
    I am left with the question why there are so few coins from this decade rather than simply none at all. I doubt that will be soon answered.
     
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  7. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    This pair of coins is a favorite from the Severan dynasty. They are little bronze provincials from Marcianopolis and were probably issued together as a set. It features husband and wife with mirror images of the same reverse design, as though viewed from opposite vantage points. It's a reminder that Hercules simply fights the lion; whether he or the lion is left or right depends on one's vantage point.

    [​IMG]
    Septimius Severus, AD 193-211.
    Roman provincial Æ 18.6 mm, 4.37 g, 7 h.
    Moesia Inferior, Marcianopolis, AD 193-211.
    Obv: ΑV Κ CΕΠΤΙ CΕΥΗΡΟC Π, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
    Rev: MAPKIA-NOΠOΛITΩ-N, Herakles standing left, wrestling the Nemean lion.
    Refs: AMNG I 585 v.; Varbanov 710; Moushmov 397; H&J 6.14.14.5-6; Mionnet Suppl. 2, 126.


    [​IMG]
    Julia Domna, AD 193-217.
    Roman provincial Æ 16.8 mm, 4.33 g, 1 h.
    Moesia Inferior, Marcianopolis, AD 193-211.
    Obv: IOVΛIA ΔO-MNA CEB, bare-headed and draped bust right.
    Rev: MAPKIANOΠOΛITΩN, Herakles standing right, wrestling the Nemean lion.
    Refs: AMNG I 606; Varbanov 673; Moushmov 419; SNG Copenhagen --; SNG Budapest --.
     
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  8. Bing

    Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

    Septimius Severus 5.jpg
    SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS
    AR Denarius
    OBVERSE: SEVERVS PIVS AVG - Laureate head right
    REVERSE: P M TR P XI COSIII P P - Fortuna seated left, holding rudder and cornucopia; wheel under chair
    Struck at Rome, 203 AD
    2.3g, 18mm
    RIC 189b, S 6334, C 461
     
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  9. maridvnvm

    maridvnvm Well-Known Member

    Obv:– IMP CAE L SEP SE - V PERT AVG COS I, Laureate head right
    Rev:– IOVI PRAE ORBIS, Jupiter, seated left, holding Victory and sceptre, at feet eagle
    Minted in Emesa, A.D. 193
    References:– RIC Page 139 (6) (Rare), Cohen 240 (6 Francs)

    2.87g, 17.33mm, 0o

    Shares the same reverse die as a coin in the @dougsmit Collection but his example has the COS II obverse die. One of the scarcer reverse types.

    [​IMG]
     
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  10. Orielensis

    Orielensis Well-Known Member

    For September 17th, I've got a fourrée denarius. The silver plating on this coin is very thin. It cannot have taken long before this forgery was discovered:

    Rom – Septimius Severus, denar, fourree, Victoria.png
    Septimius Severus, Roman Empire, fourrée denarius, 198–202 AD, Rome mint (prototype). Obv: L SEPT SEV AVG IMP XI PART MAX, head of Septimius Severus, laureate, r. Rev: VICTORIAE AVGG FEL, Victory flying l., holding wreath, shield to l. 17mm, 2.2g. Ref: RIC IV.1 144b (prototype).
     
    Last edited: Sep 17, 2021
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  11. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    From the standpoint of the forger, plating has to fool exactly one person. That is doubly true if you are skilled in passing them to people not fully familiar with coins (the poor, foreigners etc.). Where genuine coinage is scarce, fourrees might have been acceptable even after they should have been discovered just as the US economy accepted Civil War / Hard times tokens. We really do not know exactly how each of these coins fit into the day to day economy. Not long ago the number being floated was that 3% of UK £1 coins were fake. They changed the design to be harder to fake. In the US, fast food restaurants tend to start looking a paper pills at $10 or so. How many do they refuse?
     
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  12. robinjojo

    robinjojo Well-Known Member

    Here's my contribution to the pile - nice thread and wonderful coins!

    Roman Empire, 209-211 AD
    AR Tetradrachm
    Laodicea ad Mare, Seleucis and Pieria
    Septimius Severus
    AVT KAI CEOYHPOC CE, laureate and draped bust right / ΔHMAPX EΞ VΠATOC Γ, eagle standing facing, head left, with wings spread, holding wreath in beak; star between legs.
    Prieur 1140; McAlee, Severan, Group 2, 16. 15.42g, 25mm, 12h.
    Good Very Fine. Nice portrait, mostly well struck.
    Lot 485, Roma E-Sale 75
    From the inventory of a European dealer.

    D-Camera Septimius Severus tet Laodicea ad Mare 209-11AD 15.42g Roma 75 485 9-17-21.jpg


    What better tune than "September Song".

     
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  13. Sulla80

    Sulla80 Well-Known Member

    septimius Severus Markianopolis.jpg Moesia Inferior, Marcianopolis, Septimius Severus, AD 193-211, Æ, Flavius Ulpianus, legatus consularis, Struck AD 210-211
    Obv: AY K Λ CEΠ CCVHPOC, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right
    Rev: YIΛO VΛΠIΛΠOY MAPKIANOΠOΛI, Apollo standing facing, head right, raising hand over head and holding bow; quiver to left, serpent-entwined tree stump to right.
    Ref: Varbanov 778 odd reverse legends, unpublished variant? slightly double struck
     
    Last edited: Sep 17, 2021
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  14. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    Let's keep it going, folks!!

    [​IMG]
    Septimius Severus, AD 193-211.
    Roman AR Denarius, 3.22 g, 16.5 mm, 11 h.
    Rome Mint, AD 194.
    Obv: L SEPT SEV PERT AVG IMP III, laureate head, right.
    Rev: LIBERO PATRI, Liber standing facing, head left, cloak over left shoulder, holding oenochoe and thyrsus; at feet left, panther standing left, catching drips from the jug.
    Refs: RIC 32; BMCRE 64-65; Cohen 301; RCV 6307; Hill 84.
     
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  15. Marsyas Mike

    Marsyas Mike Well-Known Member

    Septemberius 18th - one of my favorite reverse types for SS - Apollo:

    Septimius Severus - Den. Apollo Oct 2018 (0).jpg
    Septimius Severus Denarius
    (194-195 A.D.)
    Rome Mint

    L SEPT SEV PERT AVG IMP IIII, laureate head right / APOLL[INI] AVGVSTO, Apollo standing left with patera and lyre.
    RIC 40; RSC 42; BMC 78
    (3.55 grams / 18 mm)
    eBay Oct. 2018
     
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  16. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    18. My favorite Septimius with Apollo is this AE25 from Nikopolis ad Istrum showing a variation of the Apollo Sauroktonos type. Ordinarily we see young Apollo reaching out to 'grab' the lizard on a tree trunk but here his left hand (viewer's right) is steadying a thinner plant while his right (viewer's left) is pulled back holding a smaller branch. I have seen this described as a dart with which Apollo intended to kill the lizard (right of his knees?) but I am less than convinced as to this detail. Is he using this smaller branch to 'swat' the critter? We see what we want to see. Perhaps the best part of this coin is what I consider to be a portrait of fine style showing Septimius looking a bit tired. I purchased this coin from PeteB in 1999.
    pi0560b01924lg.jpg

    PeteB threw in a smaller and more worn example as a bonus. It is the most oval (15x20mm) of all the Nikopolis assaria I have seen but still shows the 'darting' pose to advantage. Here the lizard is a bit higher up the branch and is shown from the top rather than the side.
    pi0570bb1925.jpg

    My most clear Sauroktonos is a Geta which has been shown on CT many times. It is a well executed 'grabber' showing the right hand inching slowly toward the lizard. It does not belong here since it has a Geta obverse but I have never seen a Septimius version with style this good. Please post yours.
    pm1460b01682lg.jpg

    The 'grabber' pose is what we see on the version in the Louvre (a Roman copy - the original is lost). I do not believe the name Sauroktonos (lizard killer) is appropriate here since the boy is trying to catch the lizard rather than kill it. Boys of my age bracket from the regions with lizards (anoles in the southern US) occurred tried to grab/catch such beasts, usually to be released. Art historians see what they want to see. They want to show Apollo in training for his killing of Python. I see a boy grabbing an small lizard.
    [​IMG]
    The coins are better evidence of the intent of Praxiteles in the original. On the Louvre copy, the left arm, the right hand and the lizard's head are modern restorations. My coins are as they survived without additions. I do believe the arm should be holding the tree trunk It bothers me that we have the different pose variations including the 'darter'. In the time of Septimius did the city of Nikopolis own two statues? Possibly. Were either of them the original? Probably not. Copies of great art from the past were very popular in that time. I would like to know what the original, original showed. Praxiteles was 700 years before Septimius. That is long enough time for several copies, modifications and repairs. Coins, we might add, were freed from the need for support braces made necessary by the bronze and marble media.
    The Vatican has one, too. Art books tend to gloss over the matter of repairs and restorations. Coins, more likely, are what they are. We all see what we want to see.
    [​IMG]
     
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  17. Bing

    Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

    Septimius Severus 3.jpg
    SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS
    AR Denarius
    OBVERSE: IMP CAE L SEP SEV PERT AVG COSII - Laureate head right
    REVERSE: FELICITAS TEMPOR - Grain ear between crossed cornucopia
    Struck at Emesa, 194-195 AD
    2.3g, 17mm
    RIC 374a
     
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  18. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    19. A popular sestertius type shows the three Monetae, one for each metal. Mine is a flat strike but was selected for the surfaces. Note the texture in the central figure. Is this a sign it was never struck up in that part? That is the way I have 'read' it.
    rj4845bb2731.jpg

    My other sestertius selected for surfaces is this 193 AD Virtus in green.
    rj4800b00078lgredo.jpg
     
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  19. Bing

    Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

    Septimius Severus 2.jpg
    SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS
    AR Denarius
    OBVERSE: IMP CAE L SEP SEV PERT AVG - Laureate head right
    REVERSE: VICT AVG TR P COS - Victory advancing left, holding wreath and palm
    Struck at Rome, 193-194 AD
    2.8g, 17mm
    RIC 22, BMC 30, S 6369, C 682
     
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  20. Marsyas Mike

    Marsyas Mike Well-Known Member

    Septemberius 19th - one of my favorite countermarks:

    CM - Perga - Eagle & AK cm on Sept Sev AE Apr 2019 (0AA).jpg
    Septimius Severus Æ 25
    Pamphylia, Perge
    (c. 193-211 A.D. ?)

    [AVT] K Λ CЄ CЄOVHPOC, laureate head rt. / ΠЄPΓAIΩN River god Cestrus reclining left, on amphora gushing water, holding reed and cornucopia.
    BMC 34
    (8.63 grams / 25 mm)
    eBay April 2019
    Countermarks:
    (1): Eagle facing, in oval, 4 x 5 mm. Howgego 334 (50 pcs).
    (2): A.K. in rectangle 5 x 3 mm. Howgego 513 (43 pcs).
    "Note: Countermark (2) was applied earlier than (1)...countermark (2) is not found on coins struck later than..Elagabalus"
    FORVM Collection Automan.

    CM - Perga - Eagle & AK cm on Sept Sev AE Apr 2019 (2).jpg
     
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  21. ancientone

    ancientone Well-Known Member

    Septimius from Achaea.

    Caphyae.jpg
    Achaea. Arcadia, Caphyae. Septimius Severus Æ22
    Obv: Laureate head right.
    Rev: KAΦYI ATΩN / Artemis, with veil billowing, running left, head right, holding torch and bow.
    22mm., 5.2gm.
    BCD Peloponnesos 1385.



    septsevelis.jpg Achaea. Elis, Elis. Septimius Severus AE18.Peloponnesus.
    Obv. - ΛCEPCEBHP.. Septimius Severus laureate, head rt.
    Rev. - HΛEIWΝ Zeus standing rt. holding eagle in left hand and throwing lightning bolt with rt.



    SicyonSeptimius.jpg
    Achaea. Sicyonia, Sicyon. Septimius Severus AE24
    2 Assaria (AE, 5.3 g, 24 mm), c. 198-205.
    Obv: Laureate head of Septimius Severus to right.
    Rev: Dionysos standing left with kantharos and thyrsus.
    Uncertain C/M
     
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