Septimius Severus, Rome mint, 196-197 AD.,
Denarius (16-17 mm / 3,31 g), silver, axis medal alignment ↑↑ (ca. 0°),
Obv.: L SEPT SEV PER[T - AVG IMP] VIII , laureate head right. Great portrait style!
Rev.: ADVENTVI AVG FE[LICISSIMO] , Septimius Severus on horseback pacing right, raising right hand.
RIC IV, I, 100, 74 (common) ; BMC 151 ; RSC 6 ; Coh. 6 .
dark collection toned
Ex Kölner Münzkabinett, Tyll Kroha, auction, Cologne, ca. 1990s, no. 658.
After defeating Clodius Albinus at Lugdunum in February 196 (not February 197, most books say), Septimius Severus returned to Rome to punish the Senate for its support of the usurper: a return which, despite the coin legend, was anything but "most happy".