Nomos AG
Auction 25 20 Nov 2022
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Septimius Severus, with Caracalla and Geta as Caesar, 193-211. Aureus (Gold, 24 mm, 10.06 g, 6 h). In an ancient ring mount, consisting of a curved-sided ring, encircling the reverse of the coin, to which is attached a rope-like border; attached to that border is a vertical suspension loop with a plain interior and, on the exterior, a deeply concave area between two high edges; on the obverse there is an inwardly slanting flat rim. The dimension given above are of the entire object (with the loop the diameter is 30 mm). Rome, 201. SEVERVS AVG PART MAX P M TR P VIIII Laureate head of Septimius Severus to right. Rev. AETERNIT • IMPERI On the left, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of the young Caracalla to right facing, on the right, the bare-headed and draped bust of Geta Caesar to left. Cf. BMC p. 202, 253, Calicó 2602 and RIC 174 (but all with a differing obverse legend). Bank Leu 10, 1974, 233 (same dies). A fascinating object of great rarity. Beautifully made and very well-preserved. Traces of earthen deposits in the mount, otherwise, the coin is nearly extremely fine and the mount is about as made.
From a Canadian collection, acquired prior to 2000, as part of a varied group of jewellery .
The actual encircling mount, with its surface slanted on the obverse and curved on the reverse is basically the same as that used to mount an aureus of Caracalla now in Dumbarton Oaks (C. Vermeule, Numismatics in Antiquity. The Preservation and Display of Coins in Ancient Greece and Rome, SNR 54 1975, p. 12, 21 = Jameson II, 189) as well as another that appeared as Bank Leu 10, 1974, 242 = Vermeule 19. This mounting technique also appears on the two pendants containing aurei of Elagabalus from Eauze (D. Schaad, ed., Le trésor d'Eauze, Toulouse, 1992, pl. 2 and p. 22, 7 -8); in a rather crude way on the pendant with an unpublished aureus of Septimius Severus dating to 196 - found in Autun in 1869 (K. Charrier and L. Schmitt, Bague ornée d'un aureus de Tétricus Ier conserved au Musée Rolin..., BSFN 77/06, June 2022, pp. 223-224 and fig. 3); on the necklace from Memphis in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Vermeule 26); on the famous necklace from Beaurains (P. Bastien and C. Metzger, Le trésor de Beaurains, Wetteren, 1977, B 23, esp. 5 and 7 (aurei of Caracalla and Elagabalus); and on the comparable pieces from Kansas City (found in Aboukir, Egypt, Vermeule 29), Naix (Vermeule 17) and Rennes cited in Beaurains. What is unusual is the way the mount is ornamented by a twisted border, which is, in fact, simpler, in a complicated way, than the elaborate open-work frames (based on floral patterns or peltae - shields used by the Amazons) found on most pendants of the 3rd century. However, this twisted gold border is found on other pendants, as Beaurains B17 (now in the BM).
From a Canadian collection, acquired prior to 2000, as part of a varied group of jewellery .
The actual encircling mount, with its surface slanted on the obverse and curved on the reverse is basically the same as that used to mount an aureus of Caracalla now in Dumbarton Oaks (C. Vermeule, Numismatics in Antiquity. The Preservation and Display of Coins in Ancient Greece and Rome, SNR 54 1975, p. 12, 21 = Jameson II, 189) as well as another that appeared as Bank Leu 10, 1974, 242 = Vermeule 19. This mounting technique also appears on the two pendants containing aurei of Elagabalus from Eauze (D. Schaad, ed., Le trésor d'Eauze, Toulouse, 1992, pl. 2 and p. 22, 7 -8); in a rather crude way on the pendant with an unpublished aureus of Septimius Severus dating to 196 - found in Autun in 1869 (K. Charrier and L. Schmitt, Bague ornée d'un aureus de Tétricus Ier conserved au Musée Rolin..., BSFN 77/06, June 2022, pp. 223-224 and fig. 3); on the necklace from Memphis in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Vermeule 26); on the famous necklace from Beaurains (P. Bastien and C. Metzger, Le trésor de Beaurains, Wetteren, 1977, B 23, esp. 5 and 7 (aurei of Caracalla and Elagabalus); and on the comparable pieces from Kansas City (found in Aboukir, Egypt, Vermeule 29), Naix (Vermeule 17) and Rennes cited in Beaurains. What is unusual is the way the mount is ornamented by a twisted border, which is, in fact, simpler, in a complicated way, than the elaborate open-work frames (based on floral patterns or peltae - shields used by the Amazons) found on most pendants of the 3rd century. However, this twisted gold border is found on other pendants, as Beaurains B17 (now in the BM).