My first coin from my Baltimore group is a denarius of Geta Caesar with a reverse of Minerva standing. This reverse is a bit more frequently seen with a string of titles as a reverse legend. I liked this one spelling out Minerva. It is just a nice, typical Geta. The second coin was not from Baltimore but from a mail order seller who used to do Baltimore regularly but I had to go to the post office today to pick up the package. This AE34 of Stratonicaea had Caracalla and Geta facing each other on the obverse and Hekate on the reverse. The obverse had a small, oval countermark of a helmeted head that trimmed a bit of Caracalla's nose. At the bottom of the obverse is a larger countermark 'THEOU'. While I have the Howgego numbers (188 & 536), I do not understand the purpose of either. I also still need to research the reverse legend which may have enough letters remaining to ID the magistrate. This is far from the best example of this coin but it is the one I have. Should we mention that Geta was scraped off of the coin in accordance with the Damnatio Memoriae declared against him by Caracalla in 211 AD? These coins are rare with Geta intact. Where's Geta? He is on the first coin shown above but did not fare so well below. I have always wanted one of these.
Wow, the coin of with Geta scraped off the die is a fantastic piece of history! I was aware of the Damnatio Memoriae of course, but I didn't realize it extended to erasing him from existing dies. You would think it would be easier just to create new coins without his bust, but I suppose one of these defaced types make a much stronger political point.
Did they scrape him off the die...or fill in the die ( I see part of the shoulder still) or was it scraped off the coin after minting? I do like the portrait on the denarius. Better than 99% of them for Geta
Did they remove Geta from the struck coin ir from the die? You would have to fill in his incuse image to remove him from the die, which I suppose you could do somehow? T
Wow, there's so much going on with that Stratonicaea Æ34. PS- the title of this thread is best when read aloud, three times, fast.
Doug's coin prompted me to search CNG's archives for other examples of damnatios. Look at this unusual example-- a brockage, but Geta escaped erasure on the incuse brockage side! Looks like bidding was fierce for this coin, although the estimate was rather comically low. https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=236794 Edited to add that this brockage answers a question asked above: was Geta "erased" from the die or from the coin? In case the lack of piled-up metal didn't answer the question, this coin does. Geta was scraped off the obverse after the coin was struck-- otherwise he would also be missing from the reverse (brockage) side. Doug (or anyone): are there any instances of damnatioed emperors being removed from dies rather than from individual coins, one at a time? It seems unlikely-- the mint would instead destroy the old dies and just make new ones without the damned individual. Filling in a die would also be impractical.
Very interesting coin, Doug. Here's a picture of one displayed at the British Museum, though not a great pic..
I would Geta a those Getas too. Nice coins Doug. One with great history and one just a nice looking coin with a lovely youthful portrait.
The Denarius is nice for the obvious reasons but the damnatio for the history would be hard to pass up. I have an ex Doug interesting Geta coin Geta, AD 209-211 Hybrid denarius (AR; 18-19mm; 2.68g; 6h) Obv.: P SEPT GETA PIVS AVG BRIT; Laureate head of Geta to right. Rev.: PONTIF – COS II; Genius standing front, head left, sacrificing out of patera over lighted altar, left, and holding corn-ears in left hand. Reference: cf. BMCRE V p. 365, 49 and p. 227 (hybrid reverses Septimius Severus)); cf. C. 139. From the Doug Smith Collection; ex A.K. Collection Lot 623, P31 A.K.Collection: Coin ID P31 from Lot no. 623
I am unaware of an erased in die model. These twin portrait coins were made for years. There are young kids and both Augusti models. There are few with Geta erased from the left side. Most coins of the city survive in poor shape so I can have a few without being overbid by the condition collectors. Most have a countermark or two but not all are the same. This one has the helmeted head but there is another that looks like a young man often called Caracalla by those who like to guess. I have shown that one several times here on my Caracalla/Plautilla. Of course my most desired answer to a question is what was the countermark on the Septimius/Domna that caused someone to do this to the coin. I assume it was the mark on the one below (my first Stratonicaea coin) which really isn't clear enough to tell anything.
I would guess that the removed countermark was Geta. Septimius would continue to circulate out of respect for dear old dad.
