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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 7881290, member: 19463&quot;]11. For day Eleven it seems appropriate to show one of my Stranger Things.&nbsp; In truth, one could make a large collection of coins showing Septimius Severus that just don&#039;t fit into the scheme of the official mints.&nbsp; Some of these are just a little off the normal but others are approaching hilarious when it comes to style.&nbsp; Some are plated and most likely made by counterfeiters out for profit.&nbsp; Some are made of silver of one degree of fineness or another and could be a money of necessity intended for use by a people cut off from normal coin supplies but still desiring coins for a cash economy. Selecting one of my Stranger Things for this position was not easy but this coin certainly deserves being considered.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1359048[/ATTACH] </p><p>The coin is fourree so we can expect anything and everything.&nbsp; There is a bit of core showing on the ear and a few other spots on the head.&nbsp; However the coin weighs 3.2g which is rather good compared to many solid denarii of this period. At first glance the legend seems to be for Septimius but the portrait has a bare head and rather resembles Clodius Albinus.&nbsp; For an unofficial coin, the portrait seems rather fine style.&nbsp; Reading the obverse legend we see SE <b>R</b>T SEV PERT AVG IMP V.&nbsp; Die workers who spoke Greek often had trouble with using a P (Greek Rho) for a Latin R but here we see the opposite substituting an R where a P was appropriate. Normal coins of the IMP V issue bear an L for Lucius at the start of the legend but the L is clearly missing here.</p><p><br /></p><p>Moving to the reverse we see the figure of Minerva with branch, staff and shield oriented in the manner usual for Rome mint coins of Clodius Albinus but in a somewhat rough style that matches neither the official Roman nor the decent portrait on this coin.&nbsp; Worse is the legend PM TRP III COS II PP.&nbsp; The first thing that grabs our eye is the huge M of PM.&nbsp; For that matter, the P is a bit oversize compared to the P in TRP but nothing like that M.&nbsp; All that acreage taken by the M pushed the final I of III over to the right side.&nbsp; Space was short again at the end where we expect PP but the second P had to cross over to the left where it was crowded in next to the P of PM.&nbsp; We know that the Romans had a different view on letter spacings than we do but PP M TR PII&nbsp; ICOSIIP does seem a bit much.</p><p>Those counting may note I found this coin strange in Eleven ways.&nbsp; This coin may not be Eastern but it still qualifies as interesting enough to make my collection.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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