Lucius Septimius Severus Pertinax
Denarius of the Roman Imperial Period 198/202 AD
Material: Silver
Diameter: 21/18mm
Weight: 3.12g
Mint: Laodicea ad Mare, Syria
Reference: RIC IV Septimius Severus 510a
Provenance: Ex private Collection Germany
Gorgeous details, great Laodicea style and beautiful dark tint.

Obverse:
You can see the right-facing bust of Septimius Severus with a laurel wreath. The inscription reads: L SEPT SEV AVG IMP XI PART MAX for Lucius Septimius Severus Augustus Imperator (for the eleventh time) Parthicus Maximus.

Reverse:
It shows the personification of Moneta seated to the left holding a scalae (scale) in the right hand and cornucopia in the left. The inscription reads: MONETA AVGG for Moneta Augustorum (The mint of the emperors).

Comments:
While Roman emperors with their portrait on the obverse had hitherto acted as guarantors of financial stability, guaranteeing the correctness of the issued nominals by their own physiognomic features, Domitian introduced a new representation into the repertoire of the mint masters with the MONETA AVGVST in 84 AD. According to Susplugas, the trigger for this minting motif was the removal of the city Roman bronze coinage (Susplugas, Les monnaies romaines de Domitien, page 93). The city Roman mint during Domitian’s reign was at the temple of Iuno Moneta – an epithet given to the consort of Iuppiter because she is said to have advised the Romans to wage only just wars, for which she promised they would never lack money. The goddess Moneta first appears in the reign of Domitian, in whose honor they were minted because he had ensured the restoration of purity, accurate weight and good workmanship to the coins of the Empire (Stevenson, Dictionary of Roman Coins, page 560).

Because of the attributes carried, such as the cornucopia and scales, the representation resembled the Aequitas as the „spirit of imperial fairness.“ Furthermore, Moneta was part of the imperial cura, which was reflected in military reforms such as the increase of pay and other beneficiaria for the people, with Domitian’s financial secretary controlling the essential steps of coin production. Rogers, at the beginning of his essay on Domitian’s state finances, presents a discussion that leads to the conclusion that Domitian conducted a financial policy that generated stable state wealth.

The Moneta issue of Septimius Severus is also in this tradition. Its scales symbolize balance and stability, the cornucopia wealth, from which everyone should get his fair share, allotted to him. By the inscription MONETA AVGG (Moneta Augustorum) on this denarius, the emperor (with his sons) claims himself to be the guarantor and originator of this stability. As a pictorial motif on coins, this message refers less to Roman politics than specifically to the uniformity of imperial issues in weight and metal content and their reliability as a means of payment. Interestingly, by the time this specimen was minted, at the end of the 2nd century, the silver content and purchasing power of denarii had declined significantly compared to earlier decades (Sonja Hommen). Septimius Severus also had coins struck with the personification of the Aequitas on reverse sides in parallel with these Moneta issues. This makes the connection between the Aequitas attributes justice and equality in relation to the imperial money issues a bit more probable.

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