Heritage World Coin Auctions
NYINC Signature Sale 3051 8-9 January 2017
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Pescinnius Niger (AD 193-194). AR denarius (19mm, 3.07 gm, 11h). NGC Choice AU 5/5 - 4/5. Antioch, AD 193-194. IMP CAES PESC NIGER IVST AVG, laureate head of Niger right / IVSTI-TIA AVG, Justitia standing slightly right, head left, holding scales in right hand and cornucopia in left arm. RIC 49. BMC -, cf. p. 78, note 305. RSC 44. Very rare! Well struck in good metal, with a sharp portrait in good style.
Pescinnius Niger was a successful military commander in the reign of Commodus. In AD 191, he was made governor of Syria, leading a substantial legionary force, and was thus well-positioned when word arrived of Commodus' assassination on the last day of AD 192. When Pertinax was murdered less than two months later, Niger saw his opportunity and arranged for his troops to proclaim him emperor as a rival to Pertinax's replacement, Didius Julianus. Rather than marching on Rome, Niger remained in the east to solidify his power base. But his caution proved costly, as in the meantime the governor of Moesia, Septimius Severus, made a lightning march on Rome, easily disposed of Julianus, and induced the Senate to declare Niger a public enemy. Niger had the bigger army, but it suffered repeated defeats throughout early AD 194. Niger attempted to flee to Parthia, but was captured and executed by one of Severus' generals. Niger's coinage was confined to the eastern mints of Caesarea, Antioch and Alexandria, and was actively suppressed by the victorious Severus, accounting for its rarity today.
Estimate: 2000-2500 USD
Pescinnius Niger (AD 193-194). AR denarius (19mm, 3.07 gm, 11h). NGC Choice AU 5/5 - 4/5. Antioch, AD 193-194. IMP CAES PESC NIGER IVST AVG, laureate head of Niger right / IVSTI-TIA AVG, Justitia standing slightly right, head left, holding scales in right hand and cornucopia in left arm. RIC 49. BMC -, cf. p. 78, note 305. RSC 44. Very rare! Well struck in good metal, with a sharp portrait in good style.
Pescinnius Niger was a successful military commander in the reign of Commodus. In AD 191, he was made governor of Syria, leading a substantial legionary force, and was thus well-positioned when word arrived of Commodus' assassination on the last day of AD 192. When Pertinax was murdered less than two months later, Niger saw his opportunity and arranged for his troops to proclaim him emperor as a rival to Pertinax's replacement, Didius Julianus. Rather than marching on Rome, Niger remained in the east to solidify his power base. But his caution proved costly, as in the meantime the governor of Moesia, Septimius Severus, made a lightning march on Rome, easily disposed of Julianus, and induced the Senate to declare Niger a public enemy. Niger had the bigger army, but it suffered repeated defeats throughout early AD 194. Niger attempted to flee to Parthia, but was captured and executed by one of Severus' generals. Niger's coinage was confined to the eastern mints of Caesarea, Antioch and Alexandria, and was actively suppressed by the victorious Severus, accounting for its rarity today.
Estimate: 2000-2500 USD