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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Julius Germanicus, post: 8200116, member: 80783&quot;]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:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1436827[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>M AVR ANTONI - NVS CAES - Bareheaded and draped juvenile bust of Caracalla Caesar to right, seen three quarters from behind /</p><p>SEVERI AVG PII FIL S C - Pontifical and augural implements: lituus, secespita, patera, guttus, simpulum, and aspergillum</p><p>Sestertius, Rome AD 196 (4th officina, 11 th Emission of Septimius Severus)</p><p>30,0 mm / 16.31 g / 12 h</p><p>RIC IV 400 (R2); BMCRE V 150, 611; Cohen 585; Sear RCV 6685; Banti 124 (6 specimens)</p><p>ex CGB Monnaies 24 (24.06.2005) lot 450 and Auctiones eAuction 74 (12.12.2021) lot 60</p><p><br /></p><p>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.</p><p><br /></p><p>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.</p><p><br /></p><p>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.</p><p><br /></p><p>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:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1436830[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>L SEPT SEV PE-RT AVG IMP VIII – Laureate and cuirassed bust of Septimius Severus right, seen 3/4 from behind /</p><p>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 </p><p>Sestertius, Rome 196 aD. </p><p>32,9 mm / 19,06 gr </p><p>RIC 719c (R2); BMCRE 596; Cohen 8 var. (draped and cuirassed, 25 F), CSS 227; Sear 6403, Banti 4 (26 specimens)</p><p>ex Auctions Jean Elsen Nr. 142 (14.09.2019) lot 513 and Nr.143 (07.12.2019) lot 454</p><p><br /></p><p>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.</p><p><br /></p><p>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).</p><p><br /></p><p>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.</p><p><br /></p><p>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,&nbsp; 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.</p><p><br /></p><p>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),&nbsp; but also was the forerunner of the standard short cut of the soldier emperors and Tetrarchs of the following century.</p><p><br /></p><p>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. </p><p><br /></p><p>Please show your coins of Caracalla Caesar (I would especially like to see Sestertii. Any of Geta Caesar out there?) or priestly emblems!</p><p><br /></p><p>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.</p><p><br /></p><p>Have a nice weekend![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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