51 Gallery
June 2017 Auction 9 Jun 2017
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EMPIRE, GOLD AUREUS OF PERTINAX, Rome, AD 193, 7.293g, 6h. Calicó 2388. Very rare. Lightly toned with underlying luster. Perfectly centered and struck in high relief on a broad flan. With a fantastic portrait in the finest style of the period. Good extremely fine. Privately acquired from Tradart; former Jean C. Guilliams (1931-2016) collection, Numismatica Genevensis 2008 (5) lot 257; Tkalec 1998 (23 October) lot 193; former Don Manuel Vidal Quadras y Ramón (1818-1894) collection, Etienne Bourgey 1913 (16 December) lot 238
Pertinax seems to have espoused all the traditional Roman virtues. He received a good education and his first career was that of a teacher, but he soon gave that up and went into the army. His abilities were great and he rapidly advanced to high rank. Successor to the assassinated Commodus, Pertinax was the first to serve as emperor during the tumultuous 'Year of the Five Emperors'. Like Galba 124 years earlier, his reforms and economies enraged the soldiery, especially the Praetorians, and in a mutiny they invaded the palace and murdered him. Most of Pertinax's portraits are really quite elegant: they show him with a finely curled beard and the expression of a severe albeit noble philosopher. However, this may well be the finest of all portraits of Pertinax.
Pertinax seems to have espoused all the traditional Roman virtues. He received a good education and his first career was that of a teacher, but he soon gave that up and went into the army. His abilities were great and he rapidly advanced to high rank. Successor to the assassinated Commodus, Pertinax was the first to serve as emperor during the tumultuous 'Year of the Five Emperors'. Like Galba 124 years earlier, his reforms and economies enraged the soldiery, especially the Praetorians, and in a mutiny they invaded the palace and murdered him. Most of Pertinax's portraits are really quite elegant: they show him with a finely curled beard and the expression of a severe albeit noble philosopher. However, this may well be the finest of all portraits of Pertinax.