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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;TJW, post: 25492020, member: 162919&quot;][ATTACH=full]1631990[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Roman A.D. 218 VERY RARE (possibly only known of type<b>*</b>) &quot;erased emperor&quot; <i>as</i> coin from his last months of life: shows the hated Emperor Macrinus who ruled just 15 months before being murdered and was then officially &quot;erased&quot; by the Senate (&quot;damnatio memoriae&quot; --damnation of the memory of him).&nbsp; In one of the earliest such rare un-personings by the Senate, most of his statues and coins were destroyed.&nbsp; Written mention of him (on scrolls, tablets, monuments) was erased.&nbsp; On this coin&#039;s reverse, the text in exergue is&nbsp; <i>ЄT B</i> which is a date mark showing his regnal year 2 (regnal year 1 would have been <i>ЄT A</i>), making this specimen even more rare since only around two months of coin production would have borne Macrinus&#039; year 2 mark.&nbsp; (The regnal year&#039;s <i>B</i> does somewhat resemble a <i>P</i>, but there was no <i>P</i> used in the region&#039;s regnal year system.) </p><p><br /></p><p>Obverse: laureate draped bust of Macrinus looking right and lettered legend. </p><p>Reverse: agalma (votive sculpture) of locally-sacred Mount Argaeus on garlanded altar, original legend text possibly MHTOΠO (or MHTPOΠ) KAICAPIA, in ex ЄT B. </p><p>Caesarea-in-Cappadocia mint. </p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; </p><p><b>*This might be the only known specimen of the Cappadocian agalma-of-Mount-Argaeus type (several emperors used it) to picture Macrinus himself</b>; the other known specimens of Macrinus&#039; brief era instead picture his son (and very briefly, co-emperor), the 9-year-old Diadumenian (who was also murdered and subject to damnatio memoriae).</p><p><br /></p><p>Bronze 12.6 grams. 29mm.</p><p><br /></p><p>Ref: (similar but picturing Diadumenian, see above) Sydenham 506a, 510; SNG Righetti 1794; (picturing others) Sydenham, Caesarea 500-1 var; Sear GICatv(1982ed) No 2890 var; Sydenham 527; RPC VI online 6736; SNG von Aulock 6510[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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