Watch List notes:

The Roman Empire

Septimius Severus, 193 – 211. Aureus 207, AV 7.28 g. SEVERVS – PIVS AVG Laureate head r. Rev. P M TR P XV – COS III P P Helmeted and draped bust of Minerva r. C 486. BMC 528. RIC 206. Calicó 2512.
Very rare. Two very interesting portraits perfectly struck and centred on a full flan,
almost invisible marks on obverse, otherwise extremely fine

Ex Leu sale 87, 2003, Perfectionist, 59. Privately purchased in 1962 and from the Karnak hoard of 1901.
Septimius Severus' obverse portrait and associated titulature attempt to cast the military emperor in the image of the philosopher emperors of the second century. Despite its flamboyant Serapis curls, his beard recalls those adopted by rulers like Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius as a sign of their philhellenism. The use of the cognomen Pius in his titulature leaves no doubt that he was trying to present himself as a latter-day Antonine. The connection to this philhellenic dynasty may also explain the use of a decidedly Greek model for the depiction of Minerva on the reverse.
Minerva was a member of the Capitoline Triad (with Jupiter and Juno) who was associated with wisdom, warfare, commerce, and the arts. Although she was originally a native Italic lunar deity, by the second century B.C. the Romans had equated her with Greek Athena and adopted Athena's mythology for Minerva. The representation of the goddess here illustrates the closeness of Minerva to Greek Athena for her triple-crested Attic helmet recalls the same style of head defense worn by the famous cult statue of Athena Parthenos in the Parthenon of Athens. This image was sculpted from gold and ivory by the acclaimed artist Phidias in the fifth century BC. Her helmeted image was widely popularized in the second century B.C. when it was used on the obverse of Athenian New Style tetradrachms. Through the diffusion and influence of this coinage, the head of Athena Parthenos became an oft-repeated type in both Greek and Roman coinage and a symbol of classical artistic greatness.
Septimius Severus rose to power because he was as skilled military man who was able to defeat his rivals in the civil war of AD 193-196 and therefore it is not surprising that he should honor Minerva on his coinage. In her aspect as a war goddess, she presided over the important Quniquatrus festival. This five-day festival began every year on March 19th and officially opened the campaign season for the Roman army.