51 Gallery
June 2017 Auction 9 Jun 2017
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EMPIRE, GOLD AUREUS OF CARACALLA, Rome, ca. AD 211, 7.278g, 12h. Calicó 2849. Very rare. Lightly toned with underlying luster. Three appealing portraits of fine style. Slightly wavy flan, otherwise, extremely fine. Roma Numismatics 2016 (12) lot 852
This is one of the most spectacular of all dynastic issues, and probably one of the rarest. Septimius wears a radiate crown, equating himself with Sol, while Domna rests upon a crescent moon, equating her with Luna. Such imagery reinforces the long-held idea that the very nature of men and women is polar: night and day... This issue may, in fact, be the first time that a Roman empress appears on a crescent, a scheme later used to indicate double denominations, as on silver antoniniani.
This is one of the most spectacular of all dynastic issues, and probably one of the rarest. Septimius wears a radiate crown, equating himself with Sol, while Domna rests upon a crescent moon, equating her with Luna. Such imagery reinforces the long-held idea that the very nature of men and women is polar: night and day... This issue may, in fact, be the first time that a Roman empress appears on a crescent, a scheme later used to indicate double denominations, as on silver antoniniani.