297, Lot: 422. Estimate $200. Sold for $320. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Septimius Severus. AD 193-211. AR Denarius (20mm, 3.75 g, 12h). Rome mint. Struck AD 209. Laureate head right / Sea or river god (Oceanus, Triton, or Tyne?) reclining right, holding shell and rudder; seahorse at feet. RIC IV 229; RSC 530. Good VF, light reverse scratches, deposits. Very rare.

Although RIC identifies the figure on the reverse as a “Sea-god (Triton?)”, it is suggested in RSC that: “The river-god on the reverse could easily be the Tyne in Northern Britain. Severus was on the Northern frontier in 209, when the coin was struck and was engaged in repairing the Wall. The fort of Arbeia (South Shields), on the south bank of the Tyne, was the supply depot for the Scottish campaigns of Severus, which commenced in 209.”