Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XIV 21 Sep 2017
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Macrinus AV Aureus. Rome, AD 218. IMP C M OPEL SEV MACRINVS AVG, laureate and cuirassed bust right / SALVS PVBLICA, Salus seated left, feeding serpent rising from altar. Clay, Macrinus, p.35, 2 = BMCRE 5, pl. 78, 16 (same dies); RIC 82; C. 113; Calicó 2973. 6.41g, 20mm, 1h.
Extremely Fine; beautiful lustre. Extremely Rare.
This reverse depicts Salus, the daughter of Aesculapius and goddess responsible for the welfare of the people, feeding a snake from a petera. This allusion to the welfare of the people was directly associated with the welfare of the state, the health of which was linked to the figure of the emperor himself as head of state. Depictions of Salus first appear on the Roman imperial coinage of Tiberius and frequently thereafter. Erika Manders (Coining Images of Power: Patterns in the Representation of Roman Emperors Imperial Coinage, 2012) identified that the number of Salus types stuck under Macrinus was 'conspicously high' when compared to the low numbers issued under his Severan predecessors. As a usurper, it was particularly important for Macrinus to propagate the message that the health of the empire was inextricably entwined with his person.
Extremely Fine; beautiful lustre. Extremely Rare.
This reverse depicts Salus, the daughter of Aesculapius and goddess responsible for the welfare of the people, feeding a snake from a petera. This allusion to the welfare of the people was directly associated with the welfare of the state, the health of which was linked to the figure of the emperor himself as head of state. Depictions of Salus first appear on the Roman imperial coinage of Tiberius and frequently thereafter. Erika Manders (Coining Images of Power: Patterns in the Representation of Roman Emperors Imperial Coinage, 2012) identified that the number of Salus types stuck under Macrinus was 'conspicously high' when compared to the low numbers issued under his Severan predecessors. As a usurper, it was particularly important for Macrinus to propagate the message that the health of the empire was inextricably entwined with his person.