Severus Alexander/Valerian? overstrike?

[Thilo]

Dear all,

an interesting specimen came my way, these days:

26 mm, 9.96 grm.

Obverse: At first, the obverse seemed like  a laureate, draped, cuirassed bust  carrying a shield. However, the legend was weird: Between 11 and 3 o'clock, there is a retrograde legend […]LEZAND[…], indicating a Severus Alexander coin. As the legend is coming out of the coin and not imprinted, it is not a brockage but somehow overstruck. And then,  between 3.30 and 6 o'clock, there is a legend it reads (non retrograde): AYT K O[…]. The "shield" seems to be part of the previous strike.

Reverse: Well, there is not much that I can make out on the reverse. Potentially a female person. However, when turned to 1 o'clock, it is pretty obvious that the reverse once was an obverse. It clearly shows the back of a bust including the bands of the laurel hanging down. Also, just at the right position (8 o'clock), the legend […]T K M[…] occurs, which indicates another Severan emperor that used to be on the reverse when it still was an obverse. For clarification, I underlined it.

So - can anybody make something out of this coin? I figure that in its final form it might have been a Valerian I coin because of the AYT K O legend (however, it is at the wrong place as obverse legends usually begin at 7 but not at 3 o'clock). As I cannot get a grip on the reverse - can any of you? What is, at 10 o'clock on the reverse, the weird moon sickle that looks like a helmet crest to the part of a globe, below. 

Why is the (original?) "LEZAND" legend on the obverse retrograde but not imprinted?

I am really puzzled.

Any help is highly appreciated!

Thilo

[Mark Fox]

Dear Thilo and Board,

That looks like a bronze of Rhesaena, possibly struck for Severus Alexander.  Compare it to these similar pieces (assuming my link to the BM site works) :

https://research.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/search.aspx?searchText=Rhesaena+Alexander

I would have to give the matter some more thought to explain the strange phenomena both of us are seeing, but I will note now that the Mesopotamian minters who struck coinage for Rhesaena were a rather lax bunch.  While I don't know if the attached specimen I just stumbled across was correctly interpreted by the dealer as an issue of Severus Alexander overstruck on a bronze of Elagabalus, but it still neatly demonstrates my point.

Hope this helps.


Best regards,

Mark Fox
Michigan         

[Thilo]

Dear Marc,

thank you for your insightful comment.

Indeed, Rheasena and Severus Alexander seem right. After checking Castelin (which is luckily available online), the obverse bust actually resembles Castelin 40, and what first looked to me as a helmet with crest is now clearly the body of an eagle with its right wing. The coin must have seen multiple overstrikes. And one of the dies employed was cut by someone who obviously was inexperienced enough to cut a die that ended up with retrograde letters. Castelin's theory that the overstrikes must have occurred in 232/233 when the city saw massive pressure from Ardashir, seems plausible.

Thank you once more. Stay healthy in these crazy times.

Thilo