AR Denarius Caracalla, not rare but neat design

My second Caracalla Denarius

AR Denarius ND circa 215AD Rome Mint 5.05g.
Obv. Bust Right
Rev. Helios in Chariot
Caracalla born in 188AD, murdered in 218AD. He was one of Septimus Severus sons, when he and his brother Geta were made co-emperors, Caracalla began plotting his demise. In 211 AD Centurions loyal to Caracalla murdered Geta. After that, Caracalla killed 50,000 Geta loyalists in purges, later in history Stalin would do the same thing to his enemies, except add two zeros to total. Finally in 218AD the commander of the Praetorian Guard, future Emperor Marcus Opelius Macrinus masterminded his murder.

 

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Great catch. Well centered, well struck, good metal surfaces, and a very bold design. You did well. I just wish it had a little bit of old cabinet toning to it. I think that would be the final touch on what is already an awesome coin.

 

Its a Antoninianus, not Denarius. A Antoninianus has the radiate crown, Denarius is a wreath.

Still a great coin. I just have 1 ant. of his.


Caracalla (198 - 217 A.D.)
AR Antoninianus
O: ANTONINVS PIVS AVG GERM, , radiate and cuirassed bust right.
R: P M TR P XVIII COS IIII P P, Pluto seated left, extending right hand, holding vertical scepter in left; at his feet to left, Cerberus seated left, turning his three heads right.
Rome
20mm
5.2g
RIC IV 261c; RSC III 299a; BMCRE V 124

 

Nice! Typical portrait of an older Carcalla. I like reverse design.

CARACALLA
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: ANTONINVS PIVS AVG BRIT, laureate head right
REVERSE: P M TR P XIIII COS III P P, Pax running left holding branch & scepter
Struck at Rome, 211 AD
3.11g, 18mm
RIC 184, RSC 190, BMC 4

 

Thanks, amateur mistake....I am new to AR material. Another really stupid question, why did Caracalla not use his real name on his coins?????

 

Cool coin John! Mine speaks MONEY on it:


RI Caracalla 198-217 AR Denarius MONETA

(Mine is the Denarius and does not have those silly radiates that I hate on the Antonianinus... )

Hey, I figgerred out why you have all that Ancient Gold... Germany is the 2nd largest holders of Gold Reserves in the World... 'tis in your blood!

 

Caracalla was born Septimius Bassianus in Lugdunum, Gaul (now Lyon, France) on 4 April 188 to Septimius Severus and Julia Domna, with a slightly younger sibling brother, Geta.[2][3] At the age of seven Caracalla was renamed Marcus Aurelius Antoninus to create a connection to the family of emperors Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius.[2]

 

Fantastic coin! Love that reverse

 

Here is another old man Caracalla, in the last year of his life. He went for a gentler look at the very end of his reign. It obviously didn't work, or he wouldn't have been stabbed while urinating.

 

You wouldn't call him Caracalla to his face. It was his nickname based on his hooded tunic. It is also handy to use his nickname to differentiate between the original Antoninus Pius, Caracalla and Elegabalus.

 

Wonderful OP ANTONINIANUS...and terrific clarifications @Mat and @Pishpash !!

Great posts everyone!

My best example is a 'mean' lookin' dude---a denarius:

 

Did someone say Comrade Stalin?

 

Great coin P-man! Well centered, good die and well struck. I think all of the curls on head and chin are a good detail.

Minor comment - Sol was the Roman sun god and Helios the Greek sun god. I am not quite sure how that worked in ancient times. Did the god's name change at a Roman / Greek boundary, or were the names pronounced differently in the different languages?

 

My understanding is that they are different gods, but with both being pagan, and thus flexible in beliefs, the Romans would assume Helios was just the Greek understanding of Sol, and as such Romans called him Sol, the Greeks called him Helios. Near the beginning of the empire and on, there was so much Greek influence in Rome that I imagine most educated Romans would recognize and use both names.

But I may be wrong...

 

After he died, he came back to life and became Mario:

 

Here's one where he isn't particularly grumpy-looking:



Denarius
Rome, AD 211
3.3 gm, 19.0 mm
Obv: ANTONINVS PIVS AVG BRIT, laureate head, r.
Rev: INDVLGE FECVNDAE, Julia Domna as Indulgentia, wearing polos, seated l. on cerule chair, extending r. hand and holding scepter.
RIC 214; Sear 6895; BMCRE 73

 

I saw that Gametheory video

 

Real nice Ant of Caracalla! Attractive!

 

Speaking of grumpy buggers, don't y'all think Vespasian tends to look pretty grumpy on his coins?

 

Wow, panzerdawg => that's a fantastic new OP-addition ... very cool reverse



... the ol' landscaping biz must be doing well again this summer, eh? (congrats)