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Roman Empire. Caracalla. Aureus 202, AV 7.08g.

Currency:CHF Category:Coins & Paper Money / Coins: Ancient Start Price:20,000.00 CHF Estimated At:25,000.00 CHF
Roman Empire. Caracalla. Aureus 202, AV 7.08g.
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The Roman Empire. Caracalla augustus, 198–217. Aureus 202, AV 7.08g. ANTON P AVG PON–TR P V COS Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Caracalla r. Rev. CONCORDIAE AETERNAE Jugate busts r. of Septimius Severus, radiate and draped, and Julia Domna, diademed and draped, on crescent. C 2 var. (S. Severus draped and cuirassed). BMC 389 note. RIC 59a var. (bust of S. Severus misdescribed). Calicó 2850 (this obverse die). Very rare and in unusually fine condition for this difficult issue. Attractive portraits of fine style, extremely fine. Ex NAC sale 27, 2004, 439. The Severans, not unlike previous emperors, often associated themselves with certain deities. In general terms Septimius Severus likened himself to Serapis, Caracalla to Hercules, and Geta to Bacchus. On this dynastic aureus we find entirely different associations: Septimius wears a radiate crown, equating himself with the sun-god Sol, and Domna’s bust rests upon a crescent moon, equating her with the moon-goddess Luna, the celestial consort of Sol. Such imagery reinforces the long-held idea that the very nature of men and women is polar: night and day. This form of expression for that distinction extends through much of Roman coinage, especially later in the empire when double-denominations are indicated, in which case if it is a coin depicting a male, he typically he wears a radiate crown, and if the coin bears the portrait of a female, her bust usually rests upon a crescent.