Septimus Severus / Altar -- If not, then who?

[Topcat7]

I have this (worn) bronze coin AE19mm., 3.36gm. that I believe to be a Septimus Severus / Altar, but I cannot find a reference to this coin.

Can anyone assist me please?

 

 

 

Edited August 15, 2023 by Topcat7

[dougsmit]

Septimius is my best guess, too.  The reverse should be easy with that large B ant lower right but I am missing it.

[Severus Alexander]

I think it might be a cista rather than an altar. Sometimes they're depicted nearly closed, along the lines of this:

https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=1048271

Any evidence of a serpent?

[hotwheelsearl]

58 minutes ago, dougsmit said:

Septimius is my best guess, too.  The reverse should be easy with that large B ant lower right but I am missing it.

I feel like that large B might be a denomination mark vice part of the legend. I wonder if that would make it any easier to ID.

[hotwheelsearl]

5 minutes ago, Severus Alexander said:

I think it might be a cista rather than an altar. Sometimes they're depicted nearly closed, along the lines of this:

https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=1048271

Any evidence of a serpent?

I don’t see a serpent on the pics, but it certainly matches a Cista not an altar. Altar would tend to be flat on the top, have an object on top, or have flames. I don’t see any here, so I’ll go with a cista mystica 

[CPK]

Cista is what I thought of too, but usually those are depicted as open or half-open.

Interesting puzzle!

[DonnaML]

Clearly a fire hydrant.

[CPK]

7 minutes ago, DonnaML said:

Clearly a fire hydrant.

Ah, a rare issue by Marcus Crassus in honor of his fire brigades...😉

[Severus Alexander]

Hypothesis: linked are two coins from Erythrai, struck for Geta, SNG Copenhagen 773. But it's not unusual to see the same types struck for Septimius.  Arrows indicate where the serpent is perhaps visible on @Topcat7's coin. The apparent "B" at the end of the legend is perhaps a wonky/corroded N, maybe with interference from the serpent design. The size, weight, fabric appears to be correct.

Whaddya think?

[shanxi]

9 hours ago, Severus Alexander said:

The apparent "B" at the end of the legend is perhaps a wonky/corroded N

Perhaps not. Not if the coin  is from Pergamon with the common inscription ΠΕΡΓΑΜΗΝΩΝ Β. You have marked a Γ with a red arrow on the left and the letters on the right before the B may be ΗΝΩΝ.

The only problem is that there are a lot of Cistas with Septimius obverse, but I have not found a closed one. Therefors it's just another possibility.

e.g.

The lid is more open on this one

https://www.corpus-nummorum.eu/coins/23350

 

This is closer to the OP coin . The lid is nearly closed, and the portrait style is very similar to the OP coin. Just look at the "three-dot hairstyle" above the forehead or the pointed chin.

https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=10156113

 

 

 

Edited August 16, 2023 by shanxi

[dougsmit]

5 hours ago, shanxi said:

Pergamon with the common inscription ΠΕΡΓΑΜΗΝΩΝ Β. You have marked a Γ with a red arrow on the left and the letters on the right before the B may be ΗΝΩΝ

I see this as as good an ID as we could hope to have on a coin with so little detail.  Good work!

[Topcat7]

@shanxi very clever of you, and to all other contributors. Your contributions are most welcome.

As Doug stated

1 hour ago, dougsmit said:

I see this as as good an ID as we could hope to have on a coin with so little detail.  Good work!

I agree. Thank you, all, again.

[Topcat7]

Possible location of serpent??

 

 

 

Edited August 17, 2023 by Topcat7