CARIA, Stratonicaea. Caracalla, with Geta as Caesar. AD 198-217. Æ (38mm, 23.27 g, 6h). Damnatio Memoriae. Iason, son of Cleoros, grammateus. Struck circa AD 205-209. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust of Caracalla vis-à-vis [bareheaded, draped, and cuirassed bust of Geta]; c/m: laureate bust of Caracalla right / Hecate standing facing, head left, wearing kalathos, holding patera and torch; at feet left, dog standing left, looking right. CNG E-342, lot 418, otherwise unpublished. For c/m: Howgego 84. Brown patina, light porosity, flan crack. Near VF. Very rare. Portrait of Geta erased, Caracalla’s damnatio memoriae of Geta applied after his murder in AD 211.
Here we see another instance where the countermark was applied to the flan prior to striking. The drapery on Caracalla’s shoulder can clearly be seen over the face in the countermark, this could not have happened if the countermark was applied post-strike. This phenomenon is also visible on the the coin referenced above as well as several other Stratonicaean bronzes of both Septimius Severus and Caracalla. (See CNG E-573, lot 400 for a similar occurrence on a coin of Septimius Severus with Julia Domna).
Description