Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XIII 23 March 2017
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Tacitus AV Aureus. Antioch, AD 275-276. IMP C M CL TACITVS AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / ROMAE AETERNAE, Roma seated left on a shield, holding Victory on globe and sceptre; SC in exergue. RIC 209; Calicó 4096; C. 116. 4.27g, 20mm, 12h.
Extremely Fine. Mount mark at 12 o'clock skilfully removed. Rare.
Ex New York Sale XXXIV, 6 January 2015, lot 670.
Although an ageing man when he became the last emperor to be elected to the purple by the Senate on the 25th September AD 275, Tacitus was a Roman by birth and a Senator, and accepted the burden that was thrust on his shoulders out of a sense of duty for his country. The reverse type that we see on this rare aureus - Romae Aeternae, the Eternal Rome, coupled with the the restoration of the old senatorial letters SC (Senatus Consulto) in the exergue - is indicative of this. Once his ascension to the purple had been ratified by the army he arrived for a short stay in Rome, before he was obliged to travel east to Asia Minor to quell troubles arising from the auxiliary troops gathered by his predecessor Aurelian, who had enlisted Scythian and Gothic troops to aid him in a campaign against Persia. With the campaign no longer expected to go ahead, the gathered men were restless and had plundered several towns in the Eastern Roman provinces. Tacitus, with the aid of his half-brother the Praetorian Prefect Florian, pacified some and defeated others, but was overcome by fatigue, old-age and the hardships of campaign and died at Tyana in Cappadocia in April 276.
Following the monetary reforms introduced by Aurelian, coins produced under Tacitus are remarkable for their uniformity and careful adherence to a regular standard. Although no gold quinarii were struck for Tacitus, so far as we know, there have been two separate weight standards noted for the aurei. The present example falls into the lighter category, being between four and five grammes, and was likely struck at 72 to the pound. The heavier examples, usually between six and seven grammes, were struck at 50 to the pound.
Extremely Fine. Mount mark at 12 o'clock skilfully removed. Rare.
Ex New York Sale XXXIV, 6 January 2015, lot 670.
Although an ageing man when he became the last emperor to be elected to the purple by the Senate on the 25th September AD 275, Tacitus was a Roman by birth and a Senator, and accepted the burden that was thrust on his shoulders out of a sense of duty for his country. The reverse type that we see on this rare aureus - Romae Aeternae, the Eternal Rome, coupled with the the restoration of the old senatorial letters SC (Senatus Consulto) in the exergue - is indicative of this. Once his ascension to the purple had been ratified by the army he arrived for a short stay in Rome, before he was obliged to travel east to Asia Minor to quell troubles arising from the auxiliary troops gathered by his predecessor Aurelian, who had enlisted Scythian and Gothic troops to aid him in a campaign against Persia. With the campaign no longer expected to go ahead, the gathered men were restless and had plundered several towns in the Eastern Roman provinces. Tacitus, with the aid of his half-brother the Praetorian Prefect Florian, pacified some and defeated others, but was overcome by fatigue, old-age and the hardships of campaign and died at Tyana in Cappadocia in April 276.
Following the monetary reforms introduced by Aurelian, coins produced under Tacitus are remarkable for their uniformity and careful adherence to a regular standard. Although no gold quinarii were struck for Tacitus, so far as we know, there have been two separate weight standards noted for the aurei. The present example falls into the lighter category, being between four and five grammes, and was likely struck at 72 to the pound. The heavier examples, usually between six and seven grammes, were struck at 50 to the pound.