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Macrinus denarius: Dated by Curtis Clay
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<p>[QUOTE="curtislclay, post: 4711535, member: 89514"]My article attempted to divide the coinage of Macrinus and Diadumenian into issues, separated from each other by changes of reverse type. Previous attempts to do that had been confounded by an understandable error: the assumption that Macrinus' coins of 218 dated</p><p><br /></p><p>TR P II COS</p><p><br /></p><p>must have been struck before those dated</p><p><br /></p><p>TR P II COS II.</p><p><br /></p><p>Surely coins dated just COS must have preceded those dated COS II?</p><p><br /></p><p>But no: Dio Cassius praises Macrinus for refusing to call himself "consul for the second time" upon taking up his first consulship in 218, though he had earlier been awarded consular ornaments as praetorian prefect under Caracalla. Dio tells us further that Plautianus, praetorian prefect under Septimius Severus, had been the first to act less modestly: upon taking up his first consulship he had called himself COS II because he had earlier been awarded consular ornaments.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now Macrinus had been called COS on his coins late in 217, clearly on the basis on the consular ornaments that he had received as praetorian prefect under Caracalla. So the mint of Rome was justified in assuming that the emperor would call himself COS II after taking up his first real consulship in 218. Accordingly on 1 January 218 the mint began striking coins for Macrinus as</p><p><br /></p><p>TR P II COS II.</p><p><br /></p><p>But maybe a month later, when news arrived from the emperor in Syria that he did not want the title COS II, the mint of course omitted it from his numismatic titulature, and henceforth called him merely</p><p><br /></p><p>TR P II COS.</p><p><br /></p><p>So in this special case COS II actually preceded COS!</p><p><br /></p><p>After establishing the correct order of Macrinus' titles in 218, it became obvious that his Rome-mint coinage was produced in three successive issues, each containing five or six main reverse types, and that Diadumenian's coinage too was produced in the same three issues, each containing just a single type.</p><p><br /></p><p>Approximate dates for these three issues could be deduced from the numbers of denarii of each of them that were present in the Reka Devnia hoard, assuming a fairly steady and continuous production of denarii throughout the reign. The growth of Macrinus' beard on the coins, changes in his bust types, and the introduction of an obverse legend break late in his reign provided further chronological clues. These dates, established as described, were the ones taken over from my article by Künker and others; there was no need to consult me in person![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="curtislclay, post: 4711535, member: 89514"]My article attempted to divide the coinage of Macrinus and Diadumenian into issues, separated from each other by changes of reverse type. Previous attempts to do that had been confounded by an understandable error: the assumption that Macrinus' coins of 218 dated TR P II COS must have been struck before those dated TR P II COS II. Surely coins dated just COS must have preceded those dated COS II? But no: Dio Cassius praises Macrinus for refusing to call himself "consul for the second time" upon taking up his first consulship in 218, though he had earlier been awarded consular ornaments as praetorian prefect under Caracalla. Dio tells us further that Plautianus, praetorian prefect under Septimius Severus, had been the first to act less modestly: upon taking up his first consulship he had called himself COS II because he had earlier been awarded consular ornaments. Now Macrinus had been called COS on his coins late in 217, clearly on the basis on the consular ornaments that he had received as praetorian prefect under Caracalla. So the mint of Rome was justified in assuming that the emperor would call himself COS II after taking up his first real consulship in 218. Accordingly on 1 January 218 the mint began striking coins for Macrinus as TR P II COS II. But maybe a month later, when news arrived from the emperor in Syria that he did not want the title COS II, the mint of course omitted it from his numismatic titulature, and henceforth called him merely TR P II COS. So in this special case COS II actually preceded COS! After establishing the correct order of Macrinus' titles in 218, it became obvious that his Rome-mint coinage was produced in three successive issues, each containing five or six main reverse types, and that Diadumenian's coinage too was produced in the same three issues, each containing just a single type. Approximate dates for these three issues could be deduced from the numbers of denarii of each of them that were present in the Reka Devnia hoard, assuming a fairly steady and continuous production of denarii throughout the reign. The growth of Macrinus' beard on the coins, changes in his bust types, and the introduction of an obverse legend break late in his reign provided further chronological clues. These dates, established as described, were the ones taken over from my article by Künker and others; there was no need to consult me in person![/QUOTE]
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Macrinus denarius: Dated by Curtis Clay
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