Dear Andi, PeteB, and Board,
That is a truly amazing find---and in rather nice condition I might add!
Consider the following coin of
Caracalla (32mm, 11.48 g.) in my
collection:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dsszwrUn2qyYbC35FeHNY0LDaGf5JMtA/view?usp=sharingIt looks like it shares the same
reverse die as the two of
his father that are under discussion here. Like Andi, I spent a long time trying to unveil the issuing city of my coin, which I bought unattributed and with the feeling that something was different about it. Eventually, as it often does, I stumbled on the answer while probably doing some other research, in the
BnF database in this case:
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8559836vI was told by a friend that Enora Le Quéré in
Les Cyclades sous l’Empire romain: Histoire d’un renaissance (2015) recorded 19 specimens of the Septimius Severus/Dionysus
type (11 included in the Samos
Hoard) and just three of the
Caracalla version (all three found in the same
hoard).
Most
Roman provincials from Naxos and the other Cycladic islands, by the way, are usually encountered in very worn condition, presumably because their mintages were very low on
average and their circulation patterns very constrained, with probably few imports to
help alleviate heavy usage. I know I do not personally see Cycladic
provincials appear much in
Asia Minor contexts, even though they have a lot in common with the latter region in both
style and iconography.
I
hope some of this was helpful to everyone.
Best regards,
Mark Fox
Michigan