During
the Severan period of production at
Stobi several new
reverse types were introduced. One of these was a representation of
Serapis wearing a
kalathos or
polos, holding a
patera and a
snake. This latter attribute is quite unusual for depictions of
Serapis. Here, a new specimen suggests that the
reverse is actually a syncretic Serapis-Asklepios.
The
reverse presents a long haired (veiled?),
kalathos on
head, robed figure standing facing (
head NOT turned left), one
arm raised holding a
patera, the other
arm clearing holding a staff with a
snake draped over the hand and top of staff. The presence of a staff can be confirmed on at least one other specimen in my
gallery. Thus, it appears it is a combination of the attributes of
Serapis and
Asklepios. The only other possibility that I can suggest is some variation of
Hygieia (
snake and
patera) but that makes the
kalathos and raised
arm problematic.
The size of the coin is itself problematic. It is only ~20 mm and 4.3 g. The middle module (diassarion) coins for
Caracalla are typically 22-24 mm and
average 6.1 g (the lightest is 4.87g.). Four specimens of the
rare small module (
assarion) coins are 17.4 - 19.7 mm. Two specimens issued by
Marcus Aurelius weigh ~4.2 g. and two issued by
Caracalla weigh ~3.2 g. I'm trying to convince myself that I have a third specimen of an
assarion known for
Caracalla with a new
reverse type.