CNG 102, Lot: 1034. Estimate $500. Sold for $750. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Divus Septimius Severus. Died AD 211. AR Antoninianus (22mm, 4.49 g, 6h). Rome mint, 6th officina. 8th emission of Trajan Decius, mid AD 251. Radiate head right / Lit altar. RIC IV 96 (Decius); RSC 800. EF, lustrous. Rare.

When Decius became emperor shortly after the millenium of Rome, he attempted to garner support by restoring the traditional Roman religion. However, by this time the old Roman pantheon was no longer in vogue. Therefore, Decius issued a series of coins commemorating the deified emperors. The list of rulers commemorated, eleven in all, falls short of the total then residing with Jupiter on Olympus, and there is no explanation as to why the series lacks such figures as the deified Julius Caesar, Claudius, Lucius Verus, Pertinax or Caracalla. To further confuse matters, the series does include one emperor who was never deified and whose appearance thus remains an enigma – Severus Alexander.

In RIC IV, Mattingly rather unconvincingly attributed the 'Divus' types struck under Decius to the mint at Milan. Via a study of die-linkage using British Museum specimens, as well as examples that have appeared in various auctions over the years, K.J.J. Elks has since refuted Mattingly's attribution, placing the 'Divi' series in the last issue of Decius struck at Rome (see “Reattribution of the Milan Coins of Trajan Decius to the Rome Mint,” NumChron 1972, pp. 111-115 and pls. 14-15).