Series: Empire - Severe
Reference: RIC IV Septimius Severus 230

Gens and monetary:Severe - Geta
Year and mint:209 AD – Rome
Obverse:Head of Septimius Severus, laureate, right - SEVERVS PIVS AVG
Reverse:Salus, draped, seated on the left, feeding on the patera in her right hand. Snake coiled in the lap.- P M TR P XVII COS III P P

Grade:EF+ 2.99 g - 6h
Origin:Leu Numismatik, December 2025

Comment:
Septimius Severus came to power in one of the most unstable moments of the Empire and was able to prevail thanks to the support of the army. He governed with a military mentality, reinforcing discipline, increasing the pay of the legions and ensuring the loyalty of the troops. With him a new stage begins in Rome in which imperial power clearly relies on the army as the pillar of the State.
Around the year 209 AD, the Empire experienced a phase of apparent external solidity but of profound internal changes. The administration is progressively militarized and State spending grows to support the army and the campaigns on the borders. Rome remains the symbolic center, but the real pulse of power is increasingly in the military camps and in the provinces.
The reverse showsSalus, personification of the well-being of the Roman State and public health. The scene in which he feeds the snake does not represent a specific event, but rather an idea: the care and protection of the “body” of the Empire. It is a common motif on imperial currency to convey stability, continuity and internal balance. In the context of the reign of Septimius Severus, this type of image reinforces the message of preserving order after the years of civil wars and underlines the will to guarantee the security and proper functioning of the State.

About the origin of the piece.

It comes from the collection of Kurt Zimmermann (1937-2025), a Winterthur numismatist linked for many years to the Schweizerische Kreditanstalt and Leu Numismatik. The piece was acquired privately in January 1973 from Irislav Dolenec.
Irislav Dolenec (1921-2009) was a Yugoslav-Croatian athlete and coach (athletics, football and handball) who coached, among others, the Swiss handball team (1969-1972) and Pfadi Winterthur (1973-1975). In his last years he especially dedicated himself to numismatics, a hobby he maintained until his death.