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 Replies: 16 / Views: 1,780 |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
36880 Posts |
Edited by IndianGoldEagle
12/21/2012 5:54 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1411 Posts |
Possibly a Septimus Severus...
Edited by Windchild
12/21/2012 5:49 pm
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Moderator
 Australia
16868 Posts |
Yep, it's a silver denarius of Septimus Severus. On the reverse is Bonus Eventus, a minor deity responsible for "good outcomes". Wildwinds example. It was struck at the eastern provincial mint of Emesa (now known as Homs, Syria) in the year 193 AD. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
36880 Posts |
Great info windchild and sap, thank you. Is the coin actually silver washed or is it silver?
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Moderator
Australia
16868 Posts |
It should be pretty solid silver - about 80% fine. I suspect the "silver wash" is from some parts of the coin requiring more aggressive cleaning.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
36880 Posts |
Thanks Sap! Me being new to ancients, would you recommend dipping the coin to try to remove the brown areas or is it best to leave it alone? A rookie question and if we were talking old U.S. coins I wouldn't even ask the question.
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Moderator
Australia
16868 Posts |
Leave it alone.
Ancient coins all need to be cleaned after they're dug up out of the ground - uncleaned ancient coins tend to look like little green rocks. While there is some debate as to how best to clean ancient coins - you can see numerous threads on the subject here in the Ancients forum - once a coin has been cleaned to the point where it is identifiable, there isn't any real need to clean it further.
I'll be moving this thread to the Ancients forum now, so the Sept.Sev. experts can attribute it properly.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4253 Posts |
RIC 369; Septimius Severus Denarius. Emesa mint, 194-195 AD. IMP CAE L SEP SEV PERT AVG COS II, laureate head right / BONI EVENTVS, Bonus Eventus standing left holding basket of fruits in right hand, grain ears in left. Take a look at wildwinds: http://wildwinds.com/coins/sear5/s6...tml#RIC_0369Like SAP said, there are some Sep Severus experts here, but I'm not one of them. Even worn, this is a nice coin. Now you're an Ancients collector. Congratulations and welcome here. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1316 Posts |
 ...IGE.... very nice coin, stick around and you will learn a lot... 
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2100 Posts |
Whilst the title on this coin reads BONVS EVENTVS the deity is actually Fides. This particular mix of deity and legend is common for this type at this mint and we simply do not know why.
Martin
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3229 Posts |
Nice coin!  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5155 Posts |
Neat coin....and to the ancients... |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
36880 Posts |
Great info, thanks everyone for the help. 50+ years collecting coins and I never really got into ancients. Think that might change with this piece but I sure have a lot to learn about this field.
Now the big question, where is the best place to buy lower priced Romans? I'm thinking of maybe picking up one from each ruler. Don't want to sink a lot of money in these until I'm sure this is where I want to go.
Edited by IndianGoldEagle
12/23/2012 1:24 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2044 Posts |
That's a realistic goal of collecting as many Roman Imperial rulers as you can. What I do is I have a grid at Tantalus coins that helps me keep track of what I have and what I don't have. You can find a lot of coins at VCoins and ebay. Here are a few you can start with. Constantine I Constantine II Constantius I Constantius II Valens Constans Valentinian I Valentinian II Licinius You can learn a lot at FORVM Ancient Coins. There are a lot of beginner's articles there. Same with Doug Smith's site. Let me know if you have any questions. I would be glad to help. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3229 Posts |
Ancients are great! The history and the coins are very interesting! I suggest checking out wildwinds.com because you can look at thousands of coins listed by ruler, city, and etc. Have fun!:)
Oh, and keep checking out the ancient forum here. There are quite a few knowledgeable people here that can help with questions you may have:)
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
36880 Posts |
Thanks Gil-galad! How prevalent are counterfeits in the lower priced coins? I'm pretty good at spotting fakes in modern but have no idea of what to look for with ancients. I don't do ebay but will check the other sites you mentioned. |
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Replies: 16 / Views: 1,780 |
Posted 12/21/2012 6:44 pm
