Severus Alexander

[mwilson603]

I know this needs a lot of cleaning, especially that hard red crust on the reverse (What is that?), but does anyone know the identity of this coin?

It's got to be Mars on the reverse as I can see a helmet, so would it be RIC 7? RIC 23?  How can I tell.

Also what mint is it from?

regards

Mark

[silvernut]

No expert, but I would say it depends on the number in P M TR P ? COS PP... Judging by the space in it, I would venture RIC 37, RSC 251:

Laureate, draped head right
IMP C M AVR SEV ALEXAND AVG
P M TR P III COS PP
Mars standing front, head left, holding branch and spear

Just a guess... Regards,
Ignasi

[curtislclay]

Looks like P M TR P II (or III) COS P P, Mars standing l. holding branch and spear, RSC 231 or 251.

Official again!  Caracalla, Macrinus, or Elagabalus caught the counterfeiters?

[mwilson603]

Brilliant, once again, thanks to you Curtis for looking at the coin, and Ignasi also for trying to guess what is beneath what looks like a small mountain of crud.

Curtis, in this issue what quality should the silver be?  I ask because obviously I want to clean the coin, and as it already looks a very grey/white poor quality colour, I'm nervous to use lemon juice etc.

Thanks again both,

Mark
P.S. Let's hope their punishment when they were caught was working the mint, otherwise the Romans lost some seriously good celators.

[curtislclay]

Fineness should be c. 40-50 %, high enough to withstand acids.

[mwilson603]

Thanks Curtis.

And just for a laugh, found in the same place as those ancient counterfeits was the below coin.  I hope this engraver didn't take over the business when his old man was caught by Macrinus 

(Is there any way to identify this other than Barborous Fel Temp?)

EDIT :- And I've just seen Joe's post in the fake coins section where he says "In general, do not direct questions to specific individuals on the boards.  Questions should be left open for anyone with the knowledge to answer.  By directing a question at a specific member you may burden them with answering a question they might not have the time or desire to answer."  I apologise if I have crossed that line earlier in the thread.  I will make my questions open in future.

[mix_val]

The coin has good detail and style.  I'd like to see what it looks like after its cleaned.

[mwilson603]

The coin has good detail and style.  I'd like to see what it looks like after its cleaned.

The Severus you mean?  or the barb?  Unless I hear otherwise I will assume the former 

[Goodies]

@mwilson603 what a great imitative that is ! Eye and tongue were cut with a small punch in the die.

Presumably it reads (N/T)TIVS with "S" cut on its side, indicating Constantius II as example coin. It is quite far from the Severus Alexander denarius shown above (say, 100-150 years   ) I think it is North West European. The Balkan imitatives of this time had a different style. Refer to Helvetica's FEL TEMP examples,

[DEAD LINK REMOVED BY ADMIN]

What's the diameter in mm ?


Lx

[mwilson603]

Hi Goodies, it is 17mm in diameter.

From what I can see the obverse legend is only TIN and then M with an extra up and down stroke.  Also the T appears to have two uprights.  The reverse obviously should say FELTEMP but in hand the F seems almost to have a bottom to make it another E.

The bit I really like is underneath the falling horse.  I can't decide if it's meant to be grass or a large flow of blood?

So as Helvetica doesn't have anything really similar, especially complete with lettering, I am assuming that this is a rarer type?

[mwilson603]

OK, the finished item, well at least as far as I am going to take it.  That crud was horrible to get off and even though I ws really slow and careful, the crud had a kind of mixed consistency between hard flaky "brick/rust" to, and without warning soft clay.  So I know that I have left some small scratches.  I also had a small flake of surface come off with the crud at one point so I don't want to push it.

Anyway, 2.6g, and nice detail I think.  Perfectly centred, so final attribution would be?

[mix_val]

As Curtis first suggested, RSC 231

[silvernut]

Almost!! I was off one "I" (and 20 RIC numbers)! 

Nice work with the cleaning, though. One day I'm gonna have to learn...

Regards,
Ignasi