Septimius Severus Denarius Laodicea Ad Mare Mint?

Hi Paul
Let me try and help out with some examples to illustrate some of what I outline above....

COS II coinage:-
AVG -

Obv:- IMP CAE L SEP SEV PERT AVG, Laureate head right
Rev:- BONI EVENTVS, Fides (Bonus Eventus - RIC) standing left holding basket of fruits in right hand, grain ears in left.
Minted in Emesa. A.D. 194
Ref:- RIC 352 (Scarce). RSC 66



Obv:- IMP CAE L SEP SEV PERT AVG, Laureate head right
Rev:- BONI EVENTVS II COS, Fides standing left holding plate of fruit and two wheat ears
Minted in Emesa. A.D. 193
Reference:- BMCRE -. RIC -. RSC -.



AVG II C

Obv:- IMP CAE L SEP SEV PERT AVG II C, Laureate head right
Rev:- BONETAE AVG (sic), Moneta standing left, holding scales in right hand, cornucopiae in left
Minted in Emesa, 194 - 195 A.D.
References:- RIC -. RSC -. BMC -.



AVG II CO

Obv:- IMP CAE L SEP SEV PERT AVG II CO, Laureate head right
Rev:- VICTOR IVST AVG, Victory walking left, holding wreath in right hand, palm in left .
Minted in Emesa, Early A.D. 194
References:- RIC -, RSC -, BMCRE -.



II COS (as far as I am aware there are only three known examples form this obverse die)

Obv:- IMP CAE L SEP SEV PERT AVG II COS, Laureate head right
Rev:- FORTVNAE REDVCI II COS, Fortuna standing left holding rudder and cornucopia
Minted in Emesa, 194 - 195 A.D.
References:- RIC -. RSC -. BMC -.



. CO

Obv:- IMP CE L SEP SEV PERT AVG CO, Laureate head right
Rev:- BONI EVENTVC, Fides (sometimes referred to as Bonus Eventus) standing left holding basket of fruit and corn ears.
Minted in Emesa, Late A.D. 193 or Early A.D. 194
References:- RIC -, RSC -, BMCRE -.



CO II - I haven't seen any example yet

COS I

Obv:- IMP CAE L SEP SE - V PERT AVG COS I, Laureate head right
Rev:- FORTVNAE REDVCI, Fortuna (Pietas) standing left holding patera and cornucopia, sacrificing over altar
Minted in Emesa, A.D. 193
References:- RIC Page 139 (5) (Scarce)



COS II

Obv:- IMP CAE L SEP SEV PERT AVG COS II, Laureate head right
Rev:- INVICTO IMP, Trophy with captured arms below
Minted in Emesa, A.D. 194 - 195
References:- RIC 389 (Scarce), RSC 232

IMP II

IMP - II (could be mis-read as IMP)

Obv:- L SEPT SEV PERET AVG IMP - II, Laureate head right
Rev:- INVICTO IMPER, Trophy with arms below
References:- RIC -. BMCRE-. RSC-.



IMP I-I (could be mis-read as IMP I)

Obv:- L SEPT SEV P-ERET AVG IMP I-I, Laureate head right
Rev:- FORT R-D-EVC, Fortuna standing left holding cornucopiae in each hand
Reference:- RIC -. RSC-. BMCRE -. No examples in the Reka-Devnia hoard



Standard IMP II

Obv:- L SEPT SEV P-ERTE AVG IMP II, Laureate head right
Rev:- FORT R-DEVC, Fortuna seated left holding rudder and cornucopiae
References:- RIC -. RSC-. BMC W Page 108 * (citing Cohen 168 though Cohen 168 is PERT though the BMC coin is decribed as PERTE)



Early IMP VIII examples

Obv:- L SEPT SEV PERT AVG IMP VIII, Laureate head right
Rev:- BON EVENT, Fides standing left holding basket of fruits in right hand, grain ears in left
Reference:- BMCRE 440 Note corr. (BON EVENT not BONI). RIC 467 corr. (S) (467 is IMP VII). Cohen 63 (citing Paris).

Evidently no examples of this reverse legend variety were seen by the authors of RIC or BMCRE as they both note the coin but cite Cohen 63 which evidently cites a misread obverse legend of VII likely being VII-I from Paris



Obv:- L SEPT SEV PERT AVG IMP VII-I, Laureate head right
Rev:- ARAB ADIABENIC, Victory advancing left holding wreath and palm
Ref:- Cohen -, BMCRE -, RIC -.
Probably an early coin as the style is much more like the IMP II issues but that is entirely my supposition.

The reverse refers to victory over Niger. To hide the fact that this was a civil war, it is phrased as victory over Arabs and Adiabenians, who aided Niger's cause.

RIC IV 466 has the same reverse legend, listed as IMP VII but as Curtis points out this legend is probably a mis-reading of IMP VIII probably cause by the last I being after the bust as on this example. RIC 466 however is Victory with wreath and trophy whereas this type is Victory with wreath and palm. RIC and BMCRE cite Cohen 52 (5 Francs) for this coin.



Early IMP VIII with longer SEVER legends

Obv:- L SEPT SEVER PERT AVG IMP VIII, Laureate head right
Rev- FORTA EDVC or FORT REDVC (R corrected from A), Fortuna seated left holding rudder and cornucopia

Julia Domna has a variety of eastern issues too.

Obv:- IVLIA DOMNA AVG, Draped bust right
Rev:- MONETAE AVG II COS, Moneta standing left, holding scales and cornucopia
Minted in Emesa. A.D. 194
Reference(s) - RIC -; BMCRE -; RSC -.

This coin is reverse die linked to the AVG issue.



Obv:- IVLIA DOMNA AVG, Draped bust right
Rev:- FELECI[TAS] TEMPOR, Basket of grains and fruit.
Minted in Emesa. A.D. 194 - 195
Reference(s) - cf RIC IV 619; cf BMCRE 415;

This coin is contemporary with the COS II issue



Obv:- IVLIA DOMNA AVG, Draped bust right
Rev:- VENER-I VICT, Venus standing left, holding apple in right hand, sceptre in left
Minted in Laodicea-ad-Mare, A.D. 195
References:- BMCRE 422, RIC 630, RSC 188a

Contemporary with the IMP II issue



Obv:- IVLIA AVGVSTA, Draped bust right, hair tied in bun behind
Rev:- CERERI FRVGIF, Ceres seated left, holding grain ears in right hand, torch in left
Minted in Laodicea-ad-Mare. A.D. 196 - 202
References:- BMC S10-13. RIC 636. RSC 14

Contemporary with the New Style issues

Hope no one minds me reopening this topic thread with an interesting coin I've just picked up and hope to have in hand next week. I'll post my own images then, but for now I have only the dealers pictures. I'd be very interested in Martin's (Maridvnvm) thoughts in view of his excellent breakdown of legends from Septimius coins at the Eastern mints, earlier in this thread

It has the 'VICTOR IVST AVG' reverse legend, which is normally found with 'IMP CAE L SEP SEV PERT AVG' (RIC 362) or 'IMP CAE L SEP SEV PERT AVG COS II' (RIC 427a). However this example has 'IMP CAE L SEP SEV PERT AVG COS I' (mentioned above as perhaps preceding the COS II types, but after the AVG ones). I can't find this variant listed anywhere and I wondered if it might simply be a COS II type that has lost an I, but it seems quite clear and then I did find another example sold recently at https://www.biddr.com/auctions/biga...51&l=3836849

It is listed as 18mm, 2.67g. Laureate head r. R/ Victory advancing l., holding wreath and palm branch. RIC 427A var.

I wonder what reference I should ascribe to it and if anyone has further thoughts?

Hello Martin,

Thanks so much for replying so quickly, particularly on an old thread like this

And thanks for taking the time to lay out those coins in sequence. It's very helpful for understanding the evolution of the legend in the region. Lastly, thank you for the description, date and your reference for the type I have. How interesting that the reverse & obverse are die matched with your example. I suppose this suggests that the specific variety was probably minted in low numbers?

Kind regards,
Derek

I've read somewhere (probably on Doug Smith's website?) that IVST was Pescennius Niger's title, and that this type was swiftly changed to VICTOR SEVER AVG once the mint officials realized this.

Not sure if it's true; it sounds implausible on its face. I'm not sufficiently into early Severan coins to have even remotely any idea how rare this type is...

But how swift was it in reality? How do we define swift?

We know that the switch to VICTOR SEVER AVG occurred in the COS I issue but we don't really know how long the mint had been operating until this point. I suspect that it was several months of production. Is this "swift"?

Here is an early adoption of the VICTOR SEVER AVG legend combined with a different depiction of Victory from the COS I issue.

Obv:- IMP CAE L SEP SEV PERT AVG COS I, Laureate head right
Rev:- VICTOR SEVER AVG, Victory walking right, holding trophy in both hands
Minted in Emesa, A.D. 194 - 195
References:- BMCRE -, RIC -, RSC -

2.80g, 18.22mm, 180o



The legend is more generally found with the normal depiction of Victory in the COS II issue

A very interesting and informative thread. So many beautiful coins too.