Here's a pickle

[67aiga7a]

Hi friends,

I recently got what seems to be a provincial roman coin struck in Pautalia that I cannot ID, so I was hoping you can help. I looked in the Varbanov tomes and what I managed to find is similarities with 4657 and 4660, but what I can make out of the reverse looks like a centaur or Sagittarius, and I can't find such a coin of Septimius Severus anywhere. I am cleaning it further but for now here are some photos of it. It is 32mm Rev: НГЕ СТА ВАРВАРОY ПАV... Obv: .....CEP CEYHPOC ПЕ

Thank you in advance!

[67aiga7a]

Hi,

maybe this should be moved to the Roman Provincial Coins section 

Thanks!

[Arados]

Hi,

maybe this should be moved to the Roman Provincial Coins section 

Thanks!

Or possibly to identification help. 

[helvetica]

Although this magistrate was active in a large number of cities in Thrace under the
Severans, fortunately you have one single letter clearly visible after the BARBAROY
- a Pi, so this coin can only be from Pautalia, Thrace.
It is very likely Varbanov 4660, "Emperor hunting on horseback right, raising spear to
lion below".
I don't have this type on wildwinds so I hope it is ok with you that I add it in your
name.

[curtislclay]

Looks to be the same obv. die as Varb. 4657, confirming the attribution to Pautalia.

The rev. does look, however, like a centaur playing a lyre, a type perhaps otherwise unattested for Pautalia. Ruzicka, in any case, illustrates no such type in his nine plates devoted to the rev. types of Pautalia.

It's not the emperor hunting lion type illustrated by Varb. 4660: the tails and hind legs of the two large animals are quite different, since the emperor's horse is charging r., while the apparent centaur is just standing or walking.

[67aiga7a]

Although this magistrate was active in a large number of cities in Thrace under the
Severans, fortunately you have one single letter clearly visible after the BARBAROY
- a Pi, so this coin can only be from Pautalia, Thrace.
It is very likely Varbanov 4660, "Emperor hunting on horseback right, raising spear to
lion below".
I don't have this type on wildwinds so I hope it is ok with you that I add it in your
name.

Hi, and thanks for comenting! I can fully agree with Curtislclay that the ''emperor hunting on horseback spearing lion'' looks quite differently in terms of tail and horse legs. It really looks like the coins with Chiron from the Kingdom of Bithynia. It is perfectly fine to add it to wildwinds

Thanks!

[helvetica]

Well I just spent several hours checking through all my sources which have coins of Sept. Severus from Pautalia - I have dozens of them plus books. I also checked through the Kyustendil Museum (modern day Pautalia) coin collection but there is no coin of any emperor with a centaur on the reverse.
The thing that is odd about this coin is where the human part of the body joins the horse's part - there is a raised saddle-like thing there - normally it is seamless. Also his front right leg looks extremely long, reaching almost down to between the AV of the legend, rather as though he is slipping forwards
out the saddle of a horse with the lyre in his left knee which is slightly raised.
I did find a Hotel Centaur in Kyustendil though and the fact that there are so many coins
from Pautalia showing Asklepios, it is very possible that the coin was struck showing his mentor, Chiron.

[67aiga7a]

Thank you so much Helvetica, for the time and effort, it is much appreciated (bow)! I am attaching an improvised macro shot of the centaur. The olive oil soak showed that there is a small imperfection where the leg is, hangs why it looked so long on the previouse picture. The only dilema I have now is should I soak it further or leave it as it is 

Once again, thanks a bunch for the help!

[helvetica]

I would not clean it any more.
My little secret for coins is to just go over it with
a small cylindrical felt attachment in a Dremel at mid-speed with a tiny dab of RenWax on the
felt. This brings up a lot of details and letters in legends without doing any
damage at all.
The cylindrical felt attachments are like the ones at the bottom of this page:
http://www.feltbobs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2&zenid=f5tfd19ratlsvl3qt979ijn095
I once bought 100 *without the shaft* (I have a shaft with a short thread on the
end which I screw into the felt) from a company in England and they are
long enough to cut in half , so I got 200 for the price of 100.
A lot of companies all over the world make them and they last a long time, plus
you only need a very very small smear of RenWax to bring out details AND it helps
seal your coin against rot, moisture etc.