IMP X sestertii of Septimius Severus

[curtislclay]

In the course of 196, the mint of Rome substantially reduced its production of sestertii, to perhaps 1/3 of the quantities of this denomination that it had been striking from 193 to partway through 196. A further, more drastic reduction in sestertius production took place a year and a half later, early in 198, when Septimius became IMP XI (capture of Ctesiphon), and Caracalla and Geta became Augustus and Caesar respectively: only very small quantities of sestertii were produced from that time until the resumption of normal production in 210.

For Septimius, the first reduction in 196 occurred when he was IMP VIII, so affected his later sestertii with IMP VIII and all of his sestertii with IMP VIIII and IMP X. These coins are a lot scarcer today than his earlier sestertii, but still nothing like as rare as his "middle-period" sestertii of 198-209.

In my die catalogue of 1972, I was able to include 41 IMP X sestertii of Septimius, coming from 14 obv. dies of the following types:
Head laureate r.: 8 dies
Bust laur. r. with fold of cloak on front shoulder: 2 dies
Bust laureate, cuirassed r., seen from behind: 2 dies
Bust laur., draped, cuir. r.,   "        "       "     : 2 dies

The reverses of those 41 coins came from 28 dies, of the following types:
A. Early group, c. Fall 197
MVNIFICENTIA AVG Elephant: 4 spec., 2 dies
PROFECTIO AVG Emp. on horse: 2 spec., 2 dies
P M TR P V COS II P P Bonus Eventus sacrificing: 10 spec., 6 dies
These three types were introduced together on denarii in Spring 197 and were struck first with IMP VIII, then IMP VIIII, but the MVNIFICENTIA and PROFECTIO types were then replaced, and only Bonus Eventus continued to be struck early in the IMP X period. On sestertii all three of the types occur not only with IMP VIII and VIIII, but also with IMP X. We may suppose that a couple of the MVNIFICENTIA and PROFECTIO rev. dies from earlier in the year were still on hand at the mint in Fall 197, so were used along with the still current Bonus Eventus type to strike a small issue of sestertii. An even earlier reverse die, TR P V Pax seated from the beginning of 197, was apparently also still on hand, for in the meantime I have acquired an IMP X sestertius with that rev. type, unfortunately in very worn condition.
B. Later group, c. late 197-early 198
P M TR P V COS II P P Sol standing: 2 spec., 2 dies
Same Sol type with TR P VI: 2 spec., 2 dies. A specimen from Wildwinds (new rev. die) illustrated below
MARTI PACIFERO Mars standing: 4 spec., 2 dies. A specimen from Wildwinds illustrated below
MART PA[CIF P M TR] P VI COS II P P Same Mars standing type: 1 spec., 1 die
PACI AET P M TR P VI COS II P P Pax seated: 5 spec., 2 dies
SALVTI AVGG Salus seated: 7 spec., 6 dies
VICT AVGG COS II P P Victory advancing: 4 spec., 3 dies
These types all also occur on denarii, except that the denarii have only the undated Mars and Pax types, MARTI PACIFERO and PACI AETERNAE, not the dated types, MART PA[CIF P M TR] P VI COS II P P and PACI AET P M TR P VI COS II P P.

[curtislclay]

The occasion of this review is that I have recently completed my set of all eleven known reverse types on IMP X sestertii, by acquiring the rather corroded coin illustrated below, the second known specimen of the dated Mars type with legend [MART PACIF] P M - TR P VI COS II P P S - C. The other known specimen is in Vienna, published by Cohen 318 with the tribunician number misread V not VI, similarly in RIC 741 and BMC p. 153 and Hill 289, who follow Cohen without correcting his reading from the coin itself. My specimen is from the same reverse die as the Vienna piece, but from a different obverse die, which I had however already known combined with other reverse types.

I have been collecting these IMP X sestertii for a long time: my first was a SALVTI AVGG piece acquired from Baldwin's in London c. 1968. They do not turn up very often, partly because of their inherent rarity, probably partly also because nine of their eleven reverse types are very ordinary, and their condition is often not great, so they are unattractive to collectors and dealers, and will likely turn up in junk bowls or multiple-coin lots rather than in select collections or single-coin lots that are illustrated in auction catalogues! The BM had only one IMP X sestertius of Septimius, before acquiring four other reverse types and two bust varieties from my first collection c. 1990; Vienna has five of the eleven rev. types, Paris has four.

It would not be surprising if several other reverse types were originally struck on IMP X sestertii, but have not yet turned up.

Only the dated version of the Pax seated type is so far known on sestertii; the undated version PACI AETERNAE could also be expected.

Perhaps also dated versions of the Salus and Victory types, with legends like SAL AVGG P M TR P VI COS II P P and VICT AVGG P M TR P VI COS II P P. So far only the undated legends are known, SALVTI AVGG and VICT AVGG COS II P P.

Another common IMP X type on denarii, ANNONAE AVGG Annona standing, is so far also known on rare asses, but not on sestertii. We could expect ANNONAE AVGG on sestertii too; perhaps also in a dated version, ANN AVGG P M TR P VI COS II P P.

[ickster]

Curtis,

Many thanks for yet another educational post. Succinct and informative!  I'll definitely pay more attention to these types whenever I see them in the future.

Congrats on your rare acquisition 

[maridvnvm]

Very well done Curtis. A very informative post.

I have only ever managed a single IMP X sestertius and it certainly lives up to your expectations on low quality.

Reference:- RIC 743 (Rated Scarce). BMCRE 621 (same reverse die). Cohen 441



Regards,
Martin

[curtislclay]

That's better than average for IMP X sestertii!

I notice that you have consigned your coin to Forvm. Maybe I'll buy it in Joe's next sale!

That's not quite the same rev. die as BMC pl. 26.3: compare the position of the T in the legend relative to BE's patera. Both dies were known to me in 1972, but not in this combination. The reverse die was also used with an IMP VIIII obverse die.