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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 7914412, member: 19463&quot;]26.&nbsp; While maridvnvm correctly pointed out that Mars is rare from Alexandria, the god is hardly common from &#039;Emesa&#039; either.&nbsp; My offering for the 26th is, as usual, not mint state but what I consider a valuable addition to my collection.&nbsp; The problem is that I had trouble picking which &#039;Emesa&#039; mint Mars would be featured today. Each has something to recommend it.&nbsp; The winner is from the early group with obverse legend ending in COS but showing no numeral. I have not yet found a coin of this die suggesting there was one lost to poor striking.&nbsp; We have seen others that use PEPT for PERT. The portrait is what I consider a serious faced long-head. The reverse shows the standard Mars walking with trophy over shoulder pose but the legend MAREI VICT was only used in the earliest period.&nbsp; Note the particularly long and flowing ties around Mars&#039; waist.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1367075[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>A bit later in style is a round-head portrait with standard COSII legend.&nbsp; The reverse legend has changed to MART VICTOR.&nbsp; A &#039;feature&#039; I might prefer not to have is a prominent fingerprint on the upper right reverse.&nbsp; It certainly would be nice to believe that this belonged to an ancient owner with dirty hands but more likely it was gained when the coin was cleaned in the previous century.&nbsp; [ATTACH=full]1367077[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Hardly &#039;best&#039; but always a favorite of mine is this MARS PATER showing a style that is just not standard enough to certify the coin as &#039;official Emesa&#039;.&nbsp; I consider it ancient and the product of a mint operation that I simply do not understand.&nbsp; I acquired this from a dealer near the bottom of barrel (personality conflict) trading a common reverse in better condition that he preferred to this one.&nbsp; I could not justify paying his price (all his stock was &#039;retail&#039; times three).&nbsp; I do prefer buying coins from sources I would like to support but for some reason I wanted this coin.&nbsp; I hold out hope that future finds and studies will tell more about this coin than the current label &quot;unofficial?&quot; suggests.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1367078[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Yes, Rome mint did issue a couple types of Mars denarii but I require a lot more out of a coin from Rome to elevate it to mention during this month with too few days.&nbsp; It is a standard Rome MARS PATER but a flipover double strike as close to being even with both sides matching as any I have seen.&nbsp; Both sides favor the obverse on the left and the reverse on the right.&nbsp; I like this coin even if it is from Rome.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1367084[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Who will show the other common Rome mint Mars design? Septimius was warlike even for his peer group.&nbsp; Why are his Mars coins not among his most common types?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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