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Auction LI 12 Jan 2021
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Pertinax. Gold Aureus (7.26 g), AD 193. Rome. IMP CAES P HELV PERTIN AVG, laureate head of Pertinax right. Reverse: PROVID DEOR COS II, Providentia standing facing, head left, extending hand towards star above to left. RIC 11a; BMC 11 (same obv. die); Calicó 2389. Rare. Excellent style and a powerful portrait of Pertinax. Boldly struck in high relief, minor edge filing noted. Extremely Fine. Estimated Value $20,000
Pertinax rose from humble beginnings to the highest echelons of administration, having served as a successful general and subsequently governor of several important provinces. At the time of Commodus' murder, he was Prefect of Rome. Upon his elevation on 1 January AD 193, Pertinax immediately began a series of legal and fiscal reforms, which although sound were unpopular with the corrupt officials then serving in the highest administrative posts in the Empire. This quickly led to an attempted coup, led by his co-consul Sosius Falco just two days after his accession. While the first coup was put down, a second was just beginning, and it came to a head on 28 March when the praetorians stormed the imperial palace and murdered the 66-year-old Pertinax. His reign had lasted a mere 86 days. The guardsmen paraded his decapitated head on a lance through the streets of Rome, but this heinous deed would shortly condemn them as when Septimius Severus arrived in Rome he tricked the Praetorians into assembling unarmed, then dismissed and banished the entire Guard under threat from his Illyrian troops.
This fantastic aureus of Pertinax features a powerful portrait of the aged emperor, and is impressively centered on a beautifully round flan. The reverse features the minor goddess Providentia, the goddess of foresight, who embodied virtues that were part of the Imperial cult of ancient Rome.
Ex Hauck & Aufhäuser 17 (18 March 2003), 382; MMAG XIX (5-6 June 1959), 236 (purchased by Gerhard Hirsch for CHF 2950).
Pertinax rose from humble beginnings to the highest echelons of administration, having served as a successful general and subsequently governor of several important provinces. At the time of Commodus' murder, he was Prefect of Rome. Upon his elevation on 1 January AD 193, Pertinax immediately began a series of legal and fiscal reforms, which although sound were unpopular with the corrupt officials then serving in the highest administrative posts in the Empire. This quickly led to an attempted coup, led by his co-consul Sosius Falco just two days after his accession. While the first coup was put down, a second was just beginning, and it came to a head on 28 March when the praetorians stormed the imperial palace and murdered the 66-year-old Pertinax. His reign had lasted a mere 86 days. The guardsmen paraded his decapitated head on a lance through the streets of Rome, but this heinous deed would shortly condemn them as when Septimius Severus arrived in Rome he tricked the Praetorians into assembling unarmed, then dismissed and banished the entire Guard under threat from his Illyrian troops.
This fantastic aureus of Pertinax features a powerful portrait of the aged emperor, and is impressively centered on a beautifully round flan. The reverse features the minor goddess Providentia, the goddess of foresight, who embodied virtues that were part of the Imperial cult of ancient Rome.
Ex Hauck & Aufhäuser 17 (18 March 2003), 382; MMAG XIX (5-6 June 1959), 236 (purchased by Gerhard Hirsch for CHF 2950).