I know that there are a couple people other than me that finds some interest in the Eastern coins of
Septimius Severus so I am posting a new
denarius that arrived today and asking opinions from those 'into' the subject. The coin was sold as 'barbaric' but that is not uncommon when dealing with the Eastern mints and this one has an additional feature or two that might lead someone to that opinion (even though I believe it is perfectly normal but a mite
scarce). The legends read different than I believe did the dies because there is considerable double striking on both sides. Note that the beaded
border does not line up. I believe that the
obverse is a normal early phase
Domna from the
mint traditionally assigned to
Emesa (actual location less certain to me). It read IVLIA DO
MNA AVG but the double striking could fool you into seing another letter on the right. Note the die was punctuated (not all were). The
reverse started life as
BONI EVENTVS IICOS but the overlap erased a couple letters. The IICOS
reverse coins of Septimius are not common but exist for some (all?) of the
reverse types used with the first
obverse legend issues of this
mint.
RIC lists one as 611 for
Domna (under
Alexandria?) but I
had not seen this series in her name in person.
If you feel like making a comment, I would appreciate hearing if you agree that the 'strangeness' of this coin can be written off to the strike error and that the dies should be considered normal for their
mint and period. I would really appreciate it if anyone has a reference or photo showing this
reverse or has a die match to the
obverse die. Die linking can be difficult with
good coins but a worn double strike may require more examination before I am ready to place it. This
mint used many
reverse types for
Domna that normally should be used for her husband so I do not consider this coin a
mule in any sense of the word. Finally, there are coins of this period known to have been
overstruck on earlier coins. When I first saw this coin I was hoping it was one because of the
reverse cracking and extra marks which I now am calling doublestriking. If you see something on the photo that you can not accept as having come from these dies, please do point it out.