Billon Tetradrachm of Emperor Macrinus

The tetradrachm of Macrinus pictured below is the last coin I won at auction last year, it finally arrived today . This coin is by no means rare, however, Macrinus was emperor for only 18 months before being assassinated, so his provincial war coinage isn't nearly as common as the other emperors. What attracted me to the coin is the strange portrait of Macrinus with the hooked nose . It's actually difficult to find two different provincial mints that have the same style portrait. Since he was emperor for such a short time official busts of him obviously didn't get around to all the provincial mints, & the celators probably relied on verbal descriptions.


The tet pictured below has been in my collection a long time & it's been posted a number of times, but I'll post it again just for comparison.


The coin pictured below from Antioch, Syria has a fairly accurate portrait of Macrinus, I sold it at a Heritage auction 9 years ago for $546.00 . The coins from the Rome mint have the most accurate & finely engraved portraits.


The marble bust of Macrinus pictured below is a period bust of the emperor, it resides in the Capitoline Museum of Rome. If any CT members have interesting coins of Macrinus post them if you like .

 

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Excellent coins. Thanks for sharing them. I have been looking for a billon tet of Alexandria of Macrinus recently though I can't find any on wildwinds. A quick search on ac search didn't show anything either. Is it possible that none were issued?

 

Both MS

 

The portrait on this Rome mint denarius looks much more like the bust in the Capitoline Museum ...



... than does this provincial from Nicopolis ad Istrum:

 

A.C.H., I've got a reprint of TETRADRACHMS OF ROMAN EGYPT by James W. Curtis & he lists only 3 known examples of Tets of Macrinus. He does picture one example that looks beautifully engraved, equal in quality to the Rome Mint examples. Alexandrian Tets of Caracalla issued after the death of Severus are very rare as are examples of Geta. I've never seen a Macrinus Tet of Alexandria come up for sale.

 

R.C., That's a beautiful denarius of Macrinus, & you're right it sure looks like the bust in Rome. The provincial bronze looks as bad as the first two examples I posted.

 

Svarog, Those are two interesting examples with the 1st one having an excellent portrait of Macrinus. The lettering on the coin is strange, especially on the reverse. The reverse inscription appears to be engraved directly into the die rather than using pre-made letter punches . With most of the mint mark missing I can't tell where it's from; do you know where it was struck ? The 2nd example you posted looks typical for the Laodicea Mint. There was a serious decline in portrait engraving with the coins Macrinus from this mint, which is surprising when you look back at earlier examples from the Severan dynasty.

 

Here's another provincial from Nikopolis ad Istrum , portrait looks different then the one on the Nikopolis coin from Roman Collector:

 

Though not a provincial Macrinus, this denarius has an interesting provenance in that it was found near Nijmegen, Netherlands.

ROMAN IMPERIAL, Macrinus
Denomination: AR denarius, minted: Rome, Italy; 217-218 AD
Obv: IMP CM OPEL SEV MACRINVS AVG, bust of Macrinus, laureate, cropped beard, cuirassed to the right.
Rev: SALVS PVBLICA, Salus, draped, seated left on throne with high back, feeding out of patera in right hand snake coiled round altar and holding sceptre in left hand
Weight: 3.45g; Ø:1.8mm
Catalogue: RIC IV 86
Provenance: Found near Nijmegen (Netherlands), ex private collection; acq.: 09-2019

 

Andres2, Despite the lack of detail on your coin it appears vastly different than the R.C. coin & is probably closer to what Macrinus looked like .

 

Roerbakmix, That's a nice looking coin with a deep patina . How interesting to be found in your home country . I noticed you & Andres2 both reside in the Netherlands, do you know each other ?

 

The Netherlands may be small, but we live here with over 17,000,000 people!
My Macrinus is a forgery attempt: the undertype is easily recognisable (I think).

Frans

 

OMG, another collector from the Netherlands ! Thanks for the post Frans . In the U.S. we would consider the Netherlands small , however, I'm sure your country has more ancient coin collectors per capita than we have . I can only guess what the undertype of your coin is, Antoninus Pius ?

 

We basically own this place

 

Thanks for answering the question. I doubt that's one I will ever be able to procure.

 

LOL

 

I have a provincial:


Macrinus, 217-218, stuck at Leucas on the Chrysorous in Coele-Syria.
(Located possibly at Abila, east end south of the Sea of Galilee (according to BMC).
AE28-24, 16.10 grams. Thick.
Facing quadriga. This is unusually early for this type
SGI --, BMC Syria has none of Macrinus from this city and only 7 from this city, total.
Lindgren and Kovacs 2187. rare
Ex: @Valentinian Warren Esty

 

Alegandron, Thanks for posting your rare bronze provincial from this obscure location ! I have seen earlier bronze coins from this mint with quadrigas on the reverse, but as you point out not from a front facing view .

 

Gosh, there are some nice coins in the post. My heart's all a'flutter. I only have one Macrinus, a two-headed Antioch AE, with his son:



Macrinus and Diadumenian
(217-218 A.D.) Æ 18
Syria, Seleucis & Pieria Antiochia ad Orontem
[AVKMO] C MAKΡINOC C Laureate head of Macrinus r. /KAI M O ΔIA ANTΩNINOC Bare-headed bust, draped and cuirassed, of Diadumenian r., S C at sides.
BMC 404-405.
(3.26 grams / 18 mm)