After spending six weeks at the Swiss and German customs, my final purchase of 2021 finally arrived today. It features the first of many Roman child emperors and I believe that what we see here even is the youngest person ever to appear as the issuer of a Roman Sestertius: M AVR ANTONI - NVS CAES - Bareheaded and draped juvenile bust of Caracalla Caesar to right, seen three quarters from behind / SEVERI AVG PII FIL S C - Pontifical and augural implements: lituus, secespita, patera, guttus, simpulum, and aspergillum Sestertius, Rome AD 196 (4th officina, 11 th Emission of Septimius Severus) 30,0 mm / 16.31 g / 12 h RIC IV 400 (R2); BMCRE V 150, 611; Cohen 585; Sear RCV 6685; Banti 124 (6 specimens) ex CGB Monnaies 24 (24.06.2005) lot 450 and Auctiones eAuction 74 (12.12.2021) lot 60 In 195 AD (in spring according to Kienast, towards the end of the year according to Sear) Septimius Severus adopted himself into the Antonine dynasty and accordingly changed the name of his five year old elder son Lucius Septimius Bassianus, who was originally named after his maternal grandfather, the high-priest of the Emesan Sun-God Elagabal, to Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. If this move in itself was a provocation against Septimius´ Caesar Clodius Albinus, who was in control of Britain and had even shared the Consulate with Severus in 194 but was surplus to Severus´ ambitions after the defeat of the third contender to the throne, Pescennius Niger, in April 194, and the subsequent campaign against Niger´s Parthian allies in early 195, the following step made civil war inevitable. Either in December 195 (Sear) or on Caracalla´s sixth birthday on April 4, 196 AD Severus promoted his son to the rank of Caesar near Viminacium. On this occasion the prince´s age was advanced by two year in the official documents in order to make him appear little more suitable as heir to the throne. The reverse of this Sestertius shows Severus entering to Rome on the way from the Parthian frontier to battling Albinus in Gaul in AD 196: L SEPT SEV PE-RT AVG IMP VIII – Laureate and cuirassed bust of Septimius Severus right, seen 3/4 from behind / ADVENTVI AVG FELICISSIMO S C - Septimius Severus, in military attire, on horse prancing right, raising right hand in salute; in front helmeted Roma advancing right, looking left, leading the emperor´s horse by holding it´s bridle in right hand and vexillum in left hand Sestertius, Rome 196 aD. 32,9 mm / 19,06 gr RIC 719c (R2); BMCRE 596; Cohen 8 var. (draped and cuirassed, 25 F), CSS 227; Sear 6403, Banti 4 (26 specimens) ex Auctions Jean Elsen Nr. 142 (14.09.2019) lot 513 and Nr.143 (07.12.2019) lot 454 The mint of Rome immediately stopped striking coins for the Caesar Clodius Albinus (who consequently reopened the mint at Lugdunum to strike his own coins after promoting himself to Augustus) in 195 and the responsible officina began striking for the new Caesar Antoninus early in the following year. Albinus was declared enemy of the state and after his defeat seven year old Caracalla was raised to the rank of nominal co-ruler as Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus in the fall of 197 (according to Kienast) or 28. January 198 (according to Sear). The first issue for Caracalla according to Sear were Aurei (RIC 3), Denarii (RIC 4), Sestertii (RIC 400) and Asses (RIC 404) showing the traditional emblems of the priestly colleges into which the heir of the throne had been adopted, dated to 196 AD (December), followed by several other types the following year before the mint started striking for Caracalla as Augustus. Curtis Clay found 31 sestertii of this type, as I read in an old post on the German forum. Of the six obverse dies that I could identify from the 25 coins I could locate pictures of, this one has the finest style (called a “magnificent portrait” in one catalogue), showing the young Caesar looking five years older than the six years he was at the time. The depiction of the prince did not only provide the example for the young heirs to the throne to follow (namely Diadumenian, Maximus, Gordian Caesar, Valerian Junior and Saloninus), but also was the forerunner of the standard short cut of the soldier emperors and Tetrarchs of the following century. The reverse of my coin, to which I have not yet been able to find any die matches, has suffered from corrosion, but to me the portrait more than makes up for that. Please show your coins of Caracalla Caesar (I would especially like to see Sestertii. Any of Geta Caesar out there?) or priestly emblems! Also I would be interested if there are any new finds or consensus about the chronology of Caracalla´s tenure as Caesar (AD 195 to 197 or AD 196 to 198?) and his coinage of that time. Have a nice weekend!
Magnificent portrait, @Julius Germanicus! Here's my only Caracalla as Caesar. He has a big gash on the cheek, unfortunately. Caracalla as Caesar, AD 195-198. Roman AR denarius, 2.46 g, 18.5 mm, 12 h. Rome, AD 198. Obv: M AVR ANTON CAES PONTIF, bare-headed and draped bust, right. Rev: FIDES PVBLICA, Fides standing right, holding grain ears and dish of fruits. Refs: RIC 8, Cohen 83; Hill 321.
There is definitely a difference in qualities in portraits on Caracalla Caesar sestertii. I have always been fond of mine. Geta did not become Caesar until after the severe cutback in AE production so any sestertius of Geta Caesar is scarce. He is common as Augustus and I have seen those tooled down to look beardless (buyer beware). I have none but feel lucky to have this rather low grade, 8.3g., as. Perhaps this would be a good place to mention the existence of coins often termed 'cast in Gaul' (this being Cohen 111) which are underweight casts of asses and frequently, it seems, of better than usual types. Below is a Minerva feeding a snake that weighs 5.5g.
Not great, but.... Caracalla. As Caesar, 196-198 AD. Æ Sestertius (30 mm, 20.44 gm, 12h).Struck under Septimius Severus, 196-197 AD. Obv: Bare-headed and draped bust right. Rev: Pontifical and augural implements: lituus, knife, patera, capix, simpulum, and aspergillum; S C in exergue. RIC IV 400; Banti 124.
Wow, that is a fabulous portrait JG!! I love it. My earliest Caracalla is this RIC 12 denarius, dated to 197-98: I'm fortunate to own the tight-flan duplicate you disposed of, Doug!
Excellent pickup, that’s a fantastic young portrait, great coin. I do not have any imperial bronze of Caracalla, but can share this denarius of a young Geta as Caesar. Geta, as Caesar, AR Denarius (19 mm, 3.23 g), Rome, 200-202. Bare-headed and draped bust of Geta to right/ Rev. PRINC IVVENTVTIS, Geta, as prince of the youth, standing l. in military attire, holding baton in his r. hand and spear with his l.; behind, trophy. RIC 18.
No Caracalla Caesars yet; only these two Getas as Caesar -- a PRINC IVVENTVTIS and a SECVRIT IMPERII, from AD 200 and 202, respectively.
That's a terrific looking sestertius, @Julius Germanicus - I really like those "implement" type in general, and this one is very nice. Very informative on the issue dates and titles too - I'm adding this post to my reference files. My Caesar types for Caracalla are all silver: Caracalla Denarius (196 A.D.) Rome Mint M AVR ANTONINVS CAES, bare-headed draped & cuirassed bust right / [SPE]I PERPETVAE, Spes advancing left lifting skirt and holding flower. RIC 5; RSC 594; BMC 190. eBay July 2017 A headless Mars denarius (dated to 198? - I take my dates from OCRE/RIC normally, but this is an older attribution and I may have screwed it up): Caracalla Denarius (198 A.D.) Rome Mint [M AVR ANT]ON CAES [PONTIF], draped bust right / MAR[TI V]LTORI, Mars, naked except for cloak around waist, walking right, holding spear and trophy. RIC 11; RSC 154; Sear 6675. (2.16 grams / 15 mm) eBay Mar. 2017 I'm a little confused by this one - it says "AVG" so maybe this is not a Caesar issue, technically. Then there's the question of what mint it is from: Caracalla (as Caesar) Denarius (196-197 A.D.) Laodicea ad Mare Mint (?) IMP CAE M AVR ANT AVG P TR P, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / MINER VICTRIX, Minerva standing left, holding Victory & spear, shield to left, trophy to right. RIC 336B (see notes). (3.63 grams / 18 mm) eBay Dec. 2017 Attribution Notes: RIC 25b (Rome Mint) and RIC 336B (Laodicea ad Mare) are identical types separated only by style. Based on crude legends and large eye on portrait, this is tentatively identified as RIC 336B from Laodicea ad Mare.
@Julius Germanicus Your Caracalla Caesar sest. in my 1972 thesis catalogue: obv. die 256, new rev. die. I catalogued 13 sest. rev. dies of that Sacrificial Implements type. Sept. Sev. sest: My obv. die 313, rev. die 459 (I think), that is a new die combination. For the chronology of these years, please see my Forum thread on the date of the Battle of Lugdunum. I discovered in my thesis that that battle took place on 19 Feb. 196 (IMP VIII) not 197 (IMP VIIII) as all of the books say. Caracalla was made Caesar between 27 Nov. and 26 Dec. 195. Septimius did not visit Rome on his way back from the East to confront Albinus: his ADVENTVI AVG FELICISSIMO type instead commemorates his well attested return to Rome after his defeat of Albinus, which as stated occurred on 19 Feb. 196 not 197. See my Forum thread for a summary of the evidence and my arguments.
Dear Curtis, Thank you very much for the info! I am getting old because I just remember our discussion on the same subject a year ago. Wouldn´t your corrected chronology of the events make it likely that the first emission of Caracalla (Sacrifical Implements and probably Spes reverses) was prepared in November or December 195 already, that is, in time to be distributed for or even at the celebrations (if there would have been such taking into account the situation). Sear who does follow your dating nevertheless dates the first coins for Caracalla to no earlier than 196 AD. I am still amazed my your catalogue of Severan dies and still think that it would be of great value to be published somewhere. By the way, did your work include the dies of the Sestertius of Colodius Albinus? Here is mine: (D CLOD SEPT ALBIN CAES) - bare head of Clodius Albinus right / (MINER PACIF COS II) S (C) - Minerva standing left, holding olive-branch in extended right hand and resting left on shield at her side, spear propped against left arm. Sestertius, Rome, 194 AD 29,19 mm / 21,56 gr RIC 54(a); BMCRE 535 and pl. 23, 4; Cohen 49; Sear 6151, Banti 18 (42 specimens)
Your Albinus: probably obv. die 76, rev. 119, new die combination. Sacrificial Implements was Caracalla Caesar's first rev. type, Spes his second. I am not sure what celebrations you are referring to, and why you think sestertii might have been struck in advance for them? In any case bronze medallions and copper asses of Carcacalla were included in the New Year's issue of 1 Jan. 196, so coinage must have begun for him at least a couple of days before the end of Dec. 195. Sear's adoption of my new chronology came solely and directly from myself; I contacted him about it 20-25 years ago when I heard he was working on a new edition of his Roman Coins. Dating Caracalla's earliest coins to 196 rather than Dec. 195 must simply be a mistake of his; you will find the correct date, late 195, in my thesis, and I have not changed my mind since then!
