Rare Harbor Scene

426, Lot: 318. Estimate $500. Sold for $1200. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ACHAEA, Patrae. Septimius Severus. AD 193-211. Æ (25mm, 6.24 g, 11h). Laureate and cuirassed bust right; c/m: cap of the Dioscuri within rectangular incuse / Harbour scene viewed from the sea: statue standing right between two ships; in background, harbour with central temple containing statue of seated deity. Cf. NCP p. 81, pl. Q, XXII; cf. Price & Trell fig. 60. Near VF, earthen black patina, surfaces pitted. Extremely rare.

No trace of the ethnic is clear, but the closest parallels can be found on coins of Patrae, where the harbour is shown from various perspectives (see NCP pl. Q, XXI–XXIII) during the reigns of Commodus and Septimius Severus.

The countermark would have been applied at Tripolis in Phoenicia, where the Dioscuri had a large cult following. Interestingly, Howgego cites 9 examples of this countermark, 8 of which are on coins of Tripolis and 1 on a coin of Patrae. He notes (p. 180) “...[t]he coin of Patrae is illustrative of the large movement of coin from the Peloponnese to Syria under Caracalla.”