Watch List notes:

The Roman Empire
Pertinax, 1st January – 28th March 193

Aureus 193, AV 6.99 g. IMP CAES P HELV – PERTIN AVG Laureate head r. Rev. AEQVIT·AVG·TR P·COS II Aequitas standing l., holding scales in r. hand and cornucopiae in l. C 1. BMC 14. Woodward, NC 1957, pl. 10, obverse die 1. RIC 1a. Calicó 2379 (these dies).
Very rare. A bold portrait struck on a broad flan, about extremely fine / good very fine


Ex Hirsch 175, 1992, 921; CNG 50, 1999, 1552; Harlan J. Berk Bid or Buy 119, 2001, 40 and UBS 52, 2001, 230 sales.

A self-made man who rose to prominence through dedication and talent, Pertinax's career was illustrious. His father was a former slave and merchant whose wealth bought Pertinax a good education. Pertinax began his adult life as a teacher, but afterward he embarked on a military career. He rose through the ranks serving in Parthia, Britain and Noricum, subsequently serving as governor of several provinces. In 189 the emperor Commodus appointed him prefect of Rome, and he was still serving in that capacity when Commodus was assassinated on New Year's Eve, 192. Though Pertinax has often been portrayed as an unimpeachable moralist, he was more likely an opportunist who was intimately involved in the plot against Commodus. After his accession, Pertinax may have viewed himself as a benevolent dictator, but the praetorians none the less murdered him after a reign of just eighty-six days.