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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;The Meat man, post: 24483936, member: 135271&quot;]I don’t know who comes to your mind when you think of the quintessential Roman military Emperor, but for me, I think of this guy:</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_03/Septimius_Severus_Glyptothek_Munich_357(1).jpg.cb5191d09d4050dc571e0a7ea2e77bd0.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>(Bust of Septimius Severus, photo from Wikipedia)</p><p><br /></p><p>Through and through the military Emperor, Septimius Severus had no time for the niceties of the Augustan Principate. He seized the throne openly through military force in A.D. 193 (following the chaos after Commodus’s assassination) and held it for over 17 years.</p><p><br /></p><p>If there’s one thing you can say about Septimius Severus, it’s that he didn’t believe in doing things by halves. Massive armies and brutal campaigns became characteristic of his military style, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lugdunum" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lugdunum" rel="nofollow">right from the very beginning</a>. Severus showed little mercy to his enemies and did not allow for second chances.</p><p><br /></p><p>A fascinating part of this history is Septimius Severus’s campaign in Caledonia - what is now northern England and Scotland.</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnaeus_Julius_Agricola" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnaeus_Julius_Agricola" rel="nofollow">Gnaeus Julius Agricola</a>, an energetic and accomplished general, had conquered much of northern Britain and Scotland some one hundred twenty years previously, under the Flavians. But pressure from the native tribes and the logistical problems of maintaining a secure border so far from the epicenter of the Empire led to the gradual abandonment of these areas. Famously, the Emperor Hadrian (117 - 138) built a wall across the northern part of Britain, much of which still stands today, in order to provide added security and control over the region.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_03/Section_of_Hadrians_Wall_1.jpg.5200e9d78459ba74ec1357835ac82972.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>(Hadrian&#039;s Wall, image from Wikipedia)</p><p><br /></p><p>Later, Hadrian’s successor Antoninus Pius (138 - 161) built a second wall, about 100 miles north of Hadrian’s:</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_03/Hadrians_Wall_map_svg.png.4e1f270655ffab77b55c460a94a90714.png" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>(Image from Wikipedia)</p><p><br /></p><p>By the time of Septimius Severus, the native Caledonians had pushed their way south past the Antonine Wall all the way to Hadrian’s Wall and beyond. Part of the problem lay in the fact that one of Septimius Severus’s rivals for the throne back in 193 had been the governor of Britain, a man named Clodius Albinus, and he had effectively stripped the province of soldiers to fight in the civil wars, leaving the frontier very thinly defended.</p><p><br /></p><p>In 208 Severus intended to put a stop to the raids and incursions. He travelled north with a huge army, numbered at 40,000 men, and accompanied by his sons Antonius “Caracalla” and Geta.</p><p><br /></p><p>First things first. Upon arrival at Hadrian’s Wall, Severus and his army stopped to strengthen and rebuild it. Up till now, much of the wall had been made of earth and timber; Severus replaced it with stone.</p><p><br /></p><p>That completed, Severus marched north to the Antonine Wall, simply steamrolling what opposition he encountered on the way. Another rebuilding project on that wall, and Severus marched north again, into the wilds of Caledonia.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here the going wasn’t so easy. Difficult terrain and the savage guerilla tactics of the barbarian defenders took a toll on the Romans. Severus began to retake the old forts built by Agricola, strengthening his own positions while at the same time conducting a scorched-earth campaign against the lands still held by the natives. In the face of this devastation, many of the tribes sought peace negotiations but were rebuffed by Severus.</p><p><br /></p><p>In A.D. 210, with the native population at the breaking point, Septimius Severus decided to deliver the final hammer blow. He sent his son Caracalla with an army north of the Antonine Wall on what can only be described as a campaign of indiscriminate slaughter and destruction - everything and everyone was to be destroyed.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><i>&quot;Let none escape utter destruction at our hands. Yea, whatso is found in the womb of the mother, child unborn though it be, let it not escape utter destruction!&quot; - Severus to Caracalla </i></b>(Cassius Dio, Book 77, Part 15.)</p><p><br /></p><p>Severus would then follow up with his own army and so, finally, subdue and occupy all of Caledonia.</p><p><br /></p><p>However, it wasn’t to be. Severus fell ill in 210 and retired to the city of Eboracum - modern day York - where he slowly became worse until, finally, Caracalla was forced to call off the campaign and return to the dying Emperor. There, on his deathbed, Septimius Severus is said to have told his sons Caracalla and Geta the words by which he himself had lived and ruled for 17 years:</p><p><br /></p><p><i><b>&quot;Be harmonious, <font size="5">enrich the soldiers,</font> <font size="6">scorn everybody else.&quot;</font>&nbsp; </b></i>(Cassius Dio, Book 77, Part 16.)</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Now, what about the coins?</i></p><p><br /></p><p>Given his long reign and habit of paying enormous sums to the troops, coins of Septimius Severus are very plentiful and generally inexpensive. But of course there are the rarities, and one of the most interesting is this type, struck in bronze:</p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp;<img src="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_03/4955097.jpg.2fe02971cd6da3d63e659a7075bfaa5a.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Septimius Severus augustus, 193 – 211. As 208, Æ 10.28g. SEVERVS – PIVS AVG Laureate head r. Rev. P M TR P XVI COS III P P S C Bridge with arches, towers at both ends; below, boat. C 523. BMC 857. RIC 786a var. (drapery on l. shoulder).</p><p><br /></p><p>(Image from asearch.com; <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=4955097" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=4955097" rel="nofollow">Numismatica Ars Classica NAC AG</a>)</p><p><br /></p><p>The bridge depicted on the reverse is thought to represent a military bridge built by Severus’s armies during the campaign in Britain. Many speculate the bridge was over the Firth of Forth but there is not a unanimous consensus. If it <i>was</i> the Firth, that would make it a structure to rival the great bridge Trajan built over the Danube river in A.D. 105:</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_03/1920px-Trajans_Bridge_Across_the_Danube_Modern_Reconstruction.jpg.4260dea2ebddde7846a04f9062415315.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>(Reconstruction of the Roman Trajan&#039;s Bridge across the lower Danube by the engineer E. Duperrex in 1907; image from Wikipedia)</p><p><br /></p><p>As <a href="https://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=54100" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=54100" rel="nofollow">CNG notes</a>, “This rare coin copies the Danubian bridge type of Trajan (RIC II 569), and is possibly the bridge over the Firth of Forth, built for Severus’ British campaigns.”</p><p><br /></p><p>An <i>excellent</i> article discussing the various theories about exactly which bridge/river, and their strengths and weaknesses, may be found <a href="https://collectingancientcoins.co.uk/roman-coins-about-britain-septimius-severus-caracalla-and-geta-more-about-the-bridge-coins-of-208-and-209-ad/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://collectingancientcoins.co.uk/roman-coins-about-britain-septimius-severus-caracalla-and-geta-more-about-the-bridge-coins-of-208-and-209-ad/" rel="nofollow">here</a>. I strongly recommend giving it a read!</p><p><br /></p><p>You saw the nice one. (Hammered for 10,000 CHF back in 2018, by the way. [ATTACH=full]1549618[/ATTACH]) Now here is <i>my</i> new mint-state, FDC example:</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_03/severus_bridge_as.jpg.e92b4e01cd5d29ec33b71d34d7490d34.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>This coin caught my eye in a recent cgb.fr eAuction and I put it on my watch list, as I do with many coins which I find interesting enough to follow but not necessarily bid on. But as the end date grew nearer with the bidding still pretty low I decided to throw my hat into the ring, and ended up winning the coin for the princely sum of 26 EUR. Needless to say, despite the poor condition I am tickled pink at having been able to acquire such a rare coin type at such a low price!</p><p><br /></p><p>(Condition matters, right? [ATTACH=full]1549617[/ATTACH])</p><p><br /></p><p>This is considered a very rare or extremely rare coin, but exactly how rare? cgb.fr listed it as R3, which according to <a href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/NumisWiki/view.asp?key=RIC%20R3#:~:text=RIC%20Rarity%20Ratings%20RIC%20I%20%281984%29%20C%3A%20Common,6%20to%2010%20known%20%5Bin%20the%20collections%20examined%5D" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/NumisWiki/view.asp?key=RIC%20R3#:~:text=RIC%20Rarity%20Ratings%20RIC%20I%20%281984%29%20C%3A%20Common,6%20to%2010%20known%20%5Bin%20the%20collections%20examined%5D" rel="nofollow">Numiswiki</a> means 6-10 specimens known in the examined collections. I did a search on asearch and came up with about a dozen different examples of this coin type; there is one currently for sale on <a href="https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/marti_classical_numismatics/258/product/septimius_severus_ae_as__bridge_over_the_firth_of_forth__aef/1464359/Default.aspx" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/marti_classical_numismatics/258/product/septimius_severus_ae_as__bridge_over_the_firth_of_forth__aef/1464359/Default.aspx" rel="nofollow">VCoins</a>; and <a href="http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.4.ss.786B" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.4.ss.786B" rel="nofollow">OCRE</a> lists 3 additional specimens. All in all this makes about 16-17 specimens I can find recorded online (including mine.) I wonder what the total population might be; perhaps [USER=89514]@curtislclay[/USER] could give us an idea. In any case, it is not only quite rare but the unusual historical and architectural reverse makes it highly sought after by collectors.</p><p><br /></p><p>It is almost cliché but when a coin is in this kind of condition, light angles and intensity can make a huge difference, and I will say that the coin <i>does</i> look (slightly) better in-hand than the photos!</p><p><br /></p><p>Thank you for reading! Please feel free to post your own bargain rarities, coins of Septimius Severus, or anything else related and relevant!</p><p><br /></p><p>Main sources:</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septimius_Severus" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septimius_Severus" rel="nofollow">Wikipedia online article Septimius Severus</a></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_invasion_of_Caledonia_(208%E2%80%93211)" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_invasion_of_Caledonia_(208%E2%80%93211)" rel="nofollow">Wikipedia online article Roman Invasion of Caledonia</a>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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