Watch List notes:

The Roman Empire
Septimius Severus, 193 – 211

Denarius 202-210, AR 2.89 g. SEVERVS – PIVS AVG Laureate head r. Rev. COS – III P P Triumphal arch of Severus, showing four columns surmounted by chariot of six horses; on either side, horseman. C 104. BMC 320. Banti 32. RIC 259.
Extremely rare. Struck on a very large flan and complete,
old cabinet tone and good very fine


Ex Hirsch 200, 1998, 132; NAC 18, 2000, 595 and Künker 124, 2007, 9243 sales

Roman architectural types have long ranked among the most sought-after coins by scholars, historians, archaeologists and collectors, not only because their designs are often attractive, but also because they are usually valuable in reconstructing the appearance of buildings, temples and monuments that no longer exist. Another category altogether is coins depicting ancient structures that survive, the population of which is far smaller than the category of vanished structures. In terms of rarity and importance, the great prizes include provincial coins depicting the Acropolis in Athens, and, imperial coins depicting, in Rome, the Colosseum, the arch of Septimius Severus, and the Circus Maximus (even though its modern remains largely consist of an open field). This denarius depicts the Arcus Severi, the triumphal arch erected by Septimius Severus in honour of his defeat of Parthia early in 198. It was dedicated in 204, at which time asses showing it were struck for Severus and Caracalla. The arch made its second and final appearance on denarii of 206 issued in the name of Severus in celebration of his fifteenth anniversary. Today the arch can still be seen at the north entrance of the Roman Forum; it is almost completely intact, though the statues that once decorated on the roof are no longer present. They may have been removed in late antiquity or in the intervening millennium, during which time the Forum came to be filled with debris so deep that even this imposing, 68-foot-tall monument was below ground level. Indeed, it was not until excavations by Carlo Fea in 1803 and subsequent efforts by the Napolonic administration that the long-hidden arch began to be revealed.