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The three emperors minted numerous victory type coins celebrating their victories in Britain. Most of these explicitly mention Britain, but it is thought that any victory type coin minted in the 208-211 AD timeframe must be a response to the British victories. Those that mention Britain celebrate victories already won, and those that don’t mention Britain anticipate the success of the campaign. However, with such an abundance of coins explicitly mentioning Britain, these implicit coins are probably only of interest to specialised collectors.
Between them, the three emperors minted between 14 and 16 different reverse designs celebrating their victories (I can’t find photos for two of them, so I can’t tell if they are genuinely different). These come in a total of 70 variations of legend and denomination.
Type 1: Two Victories
“Two Victories, winged, draped, standing left and right, fixing a shield to palm, at the foot of which are two captives”
Photo Copyright Classical Numismatic Group, LLC. Auction 75 Lot 1090. Sold for $3300 + fees.
| Emperor | Explicit Type | Implicit Type |
|---|---|---|
| Septimius Severus | RIC 4 808 Sestertius RIC 4 818 Sestertius | |
| Caracalla | RIC 4 465a Sestertius RIC 4 465b Sestertius | |
| Geta | RIC 4 167 Sestertius |
Type 2: Victory Seated Left
“Victory, winged, draped, seated left, holding stylus in right hand and inscribing shield set on knees and supported by left hand”
| Emperor | Explicit Type | Implicit Type |
|---|---|---|
| Septimius Severus | RIC 4 335 Denarius | |
| Caracalla | RIC 4 174 Aureus RIC 4 516 Dupondius RIC 4 521 As RIC 4 521 variant As | |
| Geta | RIC 4 191A As RIC 4 191B As |
Type 3: Victory Seated Right, Inscribing Shield with Trophy in Front
“Victory, winged, draped, seated right, holding palm in right hand and resting shield on left knee; under seat, shield; before her, trophy”
Photo Copyright Classical Numismatic Group, LLC. Auction 455, Lot 312. Sold for $1700+fees
| Emperor | Explicit Type | Implicit Type |
|---|---|---|
| Septimius Severus | RIC 4 224a Denarius (208 AD) RIC 4 224b Aureus (208 AD) | |
| Caracalla | ||
| Geta |
Type 4: Victory Seated Right, Inscribing Shield
“Victory, winged, draped, seated right on cuirass, inscribing shield balanced on knees; in front and behind, shields and arms”
Photo Copyright Classical Numismatic Group, LLC. Triton XIV, Lot 765. Sold for $1800 + fees
| Emperor | Explicit Type | Implicit Type |
|---|---|---|
| Septimius Severus | ||
| Caracalla | ||
| Geta | RIC 4 172A Sestertius RIC 4 172B Sestertius RIC 4 178 As |
Type 5: Victory Seated Right, Inscribing Shield
“Victory, winged, draped, seated right on arms inscribing shield, set on knees; behind, shield”
I can’t find a photo of this type, so it might be the same as Type 4 above.
| Emperor | Explicit Type | Implicit Type |
|---|---|---|
| Septimius Severus | ||
| Caracalla | ||
| Geta | RIC 4 166 Sestertius |
Type 6: Victory Advancing Left
“Victory, winged, draped, advancing left, holding wreath in extended right hand and palm sloped over left shoulder in left hand”
Photo Copyright Roma Numismatics Ltd. Auction 3 lot 505. Sold for £50,000 + fees
| Emperor | Explicit Type | Implicit Type |
|---|---|---|
| Septimius Severus | RIC 4 334 Aureus | RIC 4 223 Quinarius RIC 4 223 Quinarius Aureus |
| Caracalla | RIC 4 173 Denarius RIC 4 230 Quinarius Aureus RIC 4 231 Denarius | RIC 4 101 Quinarius (208 AD) RIC 4 186 Quinarius (211 AD) RIC 4 202a Quinarius (209-212 AD) RIC 4 202b Quinarius (209-212 AD) RIC 4 203 Quinarius Aureus (209-212 AD) |
| Geta |
Type 7: Victory Advancing Right with Wreath
“Victory, winged, draped, advancing right, holding wreath in extended right hand and palm sloped over left shoulder in left hand”
| Emperor | Explicit Type | Implicit Type |
|---|---|---|
| Septimius Severus | RIC 4 247 Denarius RIC 4 332 Denarius RIC 4 332 var Denarius | |
| Caracalla | ||
| Geta | RIC 4 91 Denarius |
Type 8: Victory Advancing Right on Prow, with Wreath
“Victory, winged, draped, advancing right on prow, holding wreath in extended right hand and palm sloped over left shoulder in left hand”
| Emperor | Explicit Type | Implicit Type |
|---|---|---|
| Septimius Severus | ||
| Caracalla | RIC 4 185 Denarius (211 AD) | |
| Geta |
Type 9: Victory Advancing Right, with Trophy
“Victory, winged, draped, advancing right, holding transverse trophy in both hands”
| Emperor | Explicit Type | Implicit Type |
|---|---|---|
| Septimius Severus | ||
| Caracalla | RIC 4 172a Denarius RIC 4 231a Denarius | |
| Geta |
Type 10: Victory Advancing Right, with Trophy and Captive
“Victory, winged, draped, advancing right, leading a captive by the hand and carrying a trophy on left shoulder”
| Emperor | Explicit Type | Implicit Type |
|---|---|---|
| Septimius Severus | RIC 4 302 Aureus RIC 4 302 var Aureus RIC 4 302 Denarius | RIC 4 237 Aureus |
| Caracalla | RIC 4 172 Aureus | |
| Geta | Not in RIC Aureus (NAC) |
Note that RIC 4 says about RIC 4 302 (Denarius) “Is the B.M. denarius a cast from the gold?”. I have been unable to find a photo of the denarius version of this reverse type, and it might be that it’s only available as an Aureus.
Type 11: Victory Standing Left
“Victory, winged, draped, standing left, holding wreath in extended right hand and palm sloped over left shoulder in left hand”
| Emperor | Explicit Type | Implicit Type |
|---|---|---|
| Septimius Severus | RIC 4 333 Denarius | |
| Caracalla | ||
| Geta | RIC 4 92 Denarius |
Type 12: Victory Standing Right with Vexillum and Two Captives
“Victory, winged, draped, standing right, holding in both hands vexillum; on each side of her, bound captive”
Photo Copyright Classical Numismatic Group, LLC. Triton XIV lot 754. Sold for $850+fees
| Emperor | Explicit Type | Implicit Type |
|---|---|---|
| Septimius Severus | RIC 4 809 Dupondius RIC 4 812a As RIC 4 812b As RIC 4 837(a) As RIC 4 837(b) As RIC 4 819 Sestertius | |
| Caracalla | ||
| Geta |
Type 13: Victory Standing Right Inscribing Shield set on Palm
“Victory, winged, draped, standing right, left foot on human-head/globe/trophy/helmet, holding stylus in right hand and inscribing shield set on palm”
Photo Copyright Classical Numismatic Group, LLC. Triton VII Lot 998. Sold for $2,500+fees
| Emperor | Explicit Type | Implicit Type |
|---|---|---|
| Septimius Severus | RIC 4 834 Dupondius RIC 4 837A As | |
| Caracalla | RIC 4 467 Dupondius RIC 4 484 Sestertius RIC 4 487a Dupondius RIC 4 487b Dupondius RIC 4 490 As RIC 4 522a As RIC 4 522b As | |
| Geta |
Type 14: Victory Standing Right
“Victory, winged, draped, standing right”
I can’t find a photo of this type, so it might be the same as one of the types above.
| Emperor | Explicit Type | Implicit Type |
|---|---|---|
| Septimius Severus | ||
| Caracalla | RIC 4 169 Denarius | |
| Geta |
Type 15: Victory Standing Right, Erecting Trophy with Britannia and Captive
“Victory, winged, draped, standing right, resting left foot on helmet, erecting trophy; on right, Britannia, towered, standing front and captive seated left with hands tied behind back”
Photo Copyright Classical Numismatic Group, LLC. Triton XVIII Lot 1158. Sold for $2,250 + fees
| Emperor | Explicit Type | Implicit Type |
|---|---|---|
| Septimius Severus | ||
| Caracalla | RIC 4 483a Sestertius RIC 4 483b Sestertius RIC 4 483c Sestertius RIC 4 483d Sestertius RIC 4 483e Sestertius RIC 4 464 Sestertius | |
| Geta | RIC 4 186 Sestertius |
Type 16: Victory Standing Front
“Victory, winged, naked to waist, standing front, head right, holding palm in right hand and attaching with left hand shield on to palm-tree”
| Emperor | Explicit Type | Implicit Type |
|---|---|---|
| Septimius Severus | RIC 4 336 Denarius RIC 4 302A Denarius RIC 4 337 Denarius | |
| Caracalla | ||
| Geta |
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