Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 106 9-10 May 2018
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Severus II caesar, 305 – 306. Argenteus, Serdica 305-306, AR 3.33 g. SEVERV – S NOB C Laureate head r. Rev. VIRTVS – MILITVM Camp gate with three turrets, no doors; in exergue, •SM•SDB•. C–. Gautier 24 var. (different officina). RIC– cf. 11.
Very rare and in exceptional condition for the issue. Light
iridescent tone, virtually as struck and almost Fdc
Ex Gorny & Mosch 195, 2011, 485 and Gorny & Mosch 215, 2013, 490 sales.
At some point in 303 it would seem that the mint of Serdica was founded using personnel and equipment that was brought some 120 miles north from Thessalonica, which then ceased to issue coins. In retrospect it is ironic that this occurred in 303, for in that very year both Diocletian and Galerius seem to have visited Thessalonica to attend the dedication of a new triumphal arch erected there to honor the defeat of the Persian King Narses. In any event, starting in 303 Serdica became the principal mint for the Balkans region. The numismatic evidence for the shift of mints is strong enough that many scholars believe it to show that in this period Galerius moved his capital from the Aegean port city of Thessalonica to Serdica, resulting in a greater concentration of Roman forces along the Danube. Galerius was quite familiar with the area, for we are told that he was raised on a farm near Serdica after his parents fled their original home in trans-Danubian Dacia to escape the periodic raids of the Carpi. This argenteus dates to the period of the Second Tetrarchy, from May 1, 305 to July 25, 306, for Severus II bears the title of Caesar. The coins produced at Serdica in this narrow period are well documented by Sutherland and Carson, yet pieces such as this argenteus remind us that the published record is incomplete. Indeed, when the sixth volume of RIC was released in 1967 the only argentei of Serdica known for this period were of the emperors Constantius I and Galerius. Subsequent discoveries revealed that this issue also included argentei for the Caesars Severus II and Maximinus II (as well as, from the subsequent period, argentei for the new Caesar Constantine I; see Lanz 123, lot 878). Though these additions provide a more complete numismatic record, in this case their discovery was not unexpected. In this same period at Serdica, gold aurei and billon nummi were struck for both of the Augusti and both Caesars, as well as for the retired Augusti Diocletian and Maximian. Thus, the absence of argentei for the Caesars was somewhat surprising. At present, argentei of Serdica for the Caesars of the Second Tetrarchy include – at least – issues of the first two officinae for Severus II and of all five officinae for Maximinus II.
Very rare and in exceptional condition for the issue. Light
iridescent tone, virtually as struck and almost Fdc
Ex Gorny & Mosch 195, 2011, 485 and Gorny & Mosch 215, 2013, 490 sales.
At some point in 303 it would seem that the mint of Serdica was founded using personnel and equipment that was brought some 120 miles north from Thessalonica, which then ceased to issue coins. In retrospect it is ironic that this occurred in 303, for in that very year both Diocletian and Galerius seem to have visited Thessalonica to attend the dedication of a new triumphal arch erected there to honor the defeat of the Persian King Narses. In any event, starting in 303 Serdica became the principal mint for the Balkans region. The numismatic evidence for the shift of mints is strong enough that many scholars believe it to show that in this period Galerius moved his capital from the Aegean port city of Thessalonica to Serdica, resulting in a greater concentration of Roman forces along the Danube. Galerius was quite familiar with the area, for we are told that he was raised on a farm near Serdica after his parents fled their original home in trans-Danubian Dacia to escape the periodic raids of the Carpi. This argenteus dates to the period of the Second Tetrarchy, from May 1, 305 to July 25, 306, for Severus II bears the title of Caesar. The coins produced at Serdica in this narrow period are well documented by Sutherland and Carson, yet pieces such as this argenteus remind us that the published record is incomplete. Indeed, when the sixth volume of RIC was released in 1967 the only argentei of Serdica known for this period were of the emperors Constantius I and Galerius. Subsequent discoveries revealed that this issue also included argentei for the Caesars Severus II and Maximinus II (as well as, from the subsequent period, argentei for the new Caesar Constantine I; see Lanz 123, lot 878). Though these additions provide a more complete numismatic record, in this case their discovery was not unexpected. In this same period at Serdica, gold aurei and billon nummi were struck for both of the Augusti and both Caesars, as well as for the retired Augusti Diocletian and Maximian. Thus, the absence of argentei for the Caesars was somewhat surprising. At present, argentei of Serdica for the Caesars of the Second Tetrarchy include – at least – issues of the first two officinae for Severus II and of all five officinae for Maximinus II.