Someone left a comment in my
gallery on this example of (I think)
RIC IVa 1, FIDEI
LEG TR P
COS. The URL has all the coin details.
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=171048This was the comment left:
That is a beautiful coin and a great portrait, I didn’t think Rome mint at first glance? Very heavy too, is that a trace of an undertype to the lower left of fides?
Cohen lists this entire issue C146, but
RIC breaks it out into two
mint issues:
Rome (
RIC IVa 1, "common") and
Alexandria (
RIC IVa 349 "
Rare, R1").
I
had assumed it to be the
Rome Mint version, and the last
auction house to sell the coin (Editions V.
Gadoury) listed it as such.
What is the consensus here?
Rome or
Alexandria? Personally, I think
Rome based on
style and
fabric.
In-hand, I see no evidence of undertyping. While on the heavier
side, the coin is not my heaviest Septimius
denarius and falls inside the usual range, which I would characterize as anywhere from about 1.8g to about 4g based on the samples I've weighted over the years across the various issuing mints.