Septimius Severus — Denarius, P M TR P V COS II, Rome

Struck at Rome in AD 197, the year Severus finished Clodius Albinus at Lyon and was finally left with no rival anywhere in the empire.

The obverse reads L SEPT SEV PERT AVG IMP VIIII over a laureate head right. PERT is Pertinax, the murdered emperor whose name Severus took to justify his march on Rome, and IMP VIIII counts his imperial acclamations. On the reverse, P M TR P V COS II P P gives the priesthood, the fifth year of tribunician power, the second consulship and the title father of his country. Sol stands left, radiate and naked but for a cloak over the shoulder, right hand raised, whip in the left.

Attribution: RIC IV Septimius Severus 101

Mint: Rome

Weight: 3.04 g

Diameter: 17 mm

Catalogued in the NumisLens cabinet — NL-6E0RT-SPFA4

Combined shipping: buy more than one coin and the rest ship free in the same package.

Attributions are my own, made from the references listed. Ancient coins are not always

straightforward, and a reference can turn out to be wrong or open to argument, so please

study the photographs. They are part of the description, and if you read the coin

differently I would like to know.