LOT 2891
Septimius Severus 'Limes Denarius'. AD 193-211.
Uncertain mint. SEVERVS PIVS AVG, laureate head to right / P M TR P XVIII COS III P P, Jupiter standing facing, head to left, holding thunderbolt and sceptre, two children below. RIC IV 226; BMCRE 1; RSC 525. Very Fine.(2.66gr, 19mm, 7h.).
ProvenanceFound Lincolnshire, UK.
Footnotes'Limes Denarii' (misnomer) are more or less faithful bronze copies of silver Denarii, minted on the fringes of the empire out of necessity. Perhaps they may be officially sanctioned issues for use in regions where political unrest made it hazardous to ship large amounts of silver. These low value issues could have served troops on the front and been redeemable for good coinage when they returned to the stable regions. Were they a form of military scrip meant to keep large quantities of precious metal from falling into enemy hands in the event of a defeat?
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Domitian AE As. AD 81-96.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £26
Rome mint; struck AD 87. [IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM COS XIII] CENS PER P P, laureate head to right / [VIRTVTI] AVGVSTI, Virtus standing to right, foot on helmet, holding spear and parazonium; S C across fields. RIC II.1 550; BMCRE 404. 10.04gr, 28mm, 6h.
Fine. Edges having been tapped to create raised rims.
Property of a Cambridgeshire, UK, gentleman.
Proto-contorniate is the modern term used to describe Roman Imperial and Provincial bronze coins of the first, second, and early third centuries with hammered-up edges. These raised edges on the rims probably occurred after these bronze issues no longer circulated and ceased to be part of the currency in general use. A common assumption is that proto-contorniates functioned as game counters since the rim created through hammering could protect the designs. Andreas Alföldi in Die Kontorniaten (Budapest, 1943) believed proto-contorniates to be forerunners of the contorniates of the fourth and fifth centuries. He argued that proto-contorniates were New Year's gifts and that the older coins were actually hammered in the fourth century before the contorniates proper came into being. -
Barbarous Imitations of Tetricus BI Antoniniani Group. AD 271-274.
Estimate: £60 - 80 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £30
Three barbarous imitations of Tetricus' issue; all from the same dies. 8.44gr total.
Condition as seen.
Acquired 1980-2015; From Abelita family collection. -
Magnentius BI Centenionalis. AD 350-353.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £72
Lugdunum mint; struck AD 351-353. 1st officina. D N MAGNEN-TIVS P F AVG, rosette-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust to right / FELICITAS REIPVBLICE, emperor in military dress standing to left, holding Victory on globe with right hand and standard with Chi-Rho banner with left; RPLG in exergue. RIC VIII 112; Bastien 154; Lyon 139. 5.60gr, 22mm, 12h.
Extremely Fine.
Ex Compton Dundon Hoard, found in Somerset, 2017.
The Compton Dundon Hoard consisted of 564 Roman Nummi, a large proportion of which were issues of the usurper Magnentius and Decentius, issued AD 350-353.
