Balbinus Silver Antoninianus, RIC IV Balbinus 12

Monetary Context and the Revival of the Radiate

The issue of RIC IV Balbinus 12 belongs to the dramatic monetary developments of the Year of the Six Emperors in AD 238. Following the collapse of the revolt of Gordian I and Gordian II in Africa, the Roman Senate declared Maximinus Thrax a public enemy and appointed two senior patricians, Decimus Caelius Calvinus Balbinus and Marcus Clodius Pupienus Maximus, as equal Augusti. This unprecedented dual appointment created immediate and immense fiscal obligations. The new government had to organize an army to counter Maximinus's march into northern Italy, appease the hostile urban populace of Rome, and secure the loyalty of recalcitrant military elements, most notably the Praetorian Guard. To meet these pressing liquidity requirements, the senatorial administration revived the silver antoninianus, a denomination created by Caracalla in AD 215 that had effectively lapsed during the reign of Severus Alexander. The reintroduction of the double denarius allowed the mint to stretch scarce imperial silver reserves, as the coin traded at a tariff of two denarii while containing only approximately one and a half times the silver content of an ordinary denarius. RIC IV Balbinus 12 represents one of the foundational issues of this renewed denomination, reflecting both financial exigency and the sophisticated ideological apparatus deployed by the senatorial co-emperors.

Mint Organization and Production Standards

Production of RIC IV Balbinus 12 was concentrated exclusively at the imperial mint of Rome. Operating under intense political pressure and strict deadlines, the mint organized its operations into distinct officinae (workshops) to produce parallel coin series for Balbinus, Pupienus, and their newly created Caesar, the young Gordian III. While officina marks do not explicitly appear in the legends or fields of this issue, stylistic analysis and die studies demonstrate tightly coordinated output divided between the two senior Augusti. The metal composition of RIC IV Balbinus 12 is typical of the early third-century radiate silver standard: the alloy comprises billon containing roughly 45 to 50 percent fine silver, with the remainder composed of copper and trace base metals. Specimens generally target an average weight between 2.8 and 3.2 grams, with recorded diameters typically spanning 21 to 23 millimeters. Die axes are predominantly oriented at either 12 o'clock or 6 o'clock, reflecting standard alignment practices of the central imperial mint. Striking quality exhibits notable variation; while early dies were engraved with exquisite portraiture and crisp lettering, the urgency of production led to occasionally irregular flans, shallow strikes, and cracked edges.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Representation

The obverse of RIC IV Balbinus 12 presents a right-facing, radiate bust of Balbinus, adorned with drapery over a cuirass (draped and cuirassed). The radiate crown, featuring prominent solar rays, serves as the primary numismatic marker of the double denarius denomination, distinguishing it instantly from the laureate denarius. Roman die engravers rendered Balbinus with striking realism, portraying him as an elderly, corpulent patrician of aristocratic pedigree. His facial features are broad, characterized by a fleshy chin, thick neck, furrowed brow, and closely cropped hair and beard rendered through careful stippling. This veristic portraiture deliberately evoked the traditional dignity (gravitas) and maturity of the senatorial class, standing in sharp visual and moral contrast to the harsh, militaristic image propagated by Maximinus Thrax. Balbinus was celebrated for his civil and administrative expertise, and the coin portraits emphasize wisdom and civil authority over violent martial vigor, even while retaining the military cuirass to signal his readiness to defend the state.

Reverse Design: The Dextrarum Iunctio

The reverse of RIC IV Balbinus 12 is dominated by the dextrarum iunctio, the motif of two clasped right hands. This ancient symbolic gesture conveyed solemn pledges, concord, and mutual loyalty. Within the context of Roman numismatic tradition, clasped hands were frequently employed during times of political instability to project an image of solidarity, either between the princeps and his legions or between joint rulers. On this issue, the hands represent the harmonious partnership between Balbinus and Pupienus. The composition is stark and uncluttered: the hands meet at the horizontal center of the flan, wrists visible on both the left and right, surrounded entirely by the circumscription. This design served as the twin counterpart to issues struck simultaneously in the name of Pupienus bearing the identical reverse type and legend, as well as companion issues featuring complementary slogans such as CONCORDIA AVGG and AMICITIA MVTVA AVGG. The visual focus on clasped hands acted as vital propaganda aimed at counteracting widespread rumors of personal friction and jealousy between the two elderly rulers.

Epigraphy and Legend Analysis

The legends on RIC IV Balbinus 12 are concise, authoritative, and strictly standardized. The obverse circumscription reads IMP CAES D CAEL BALBINVS AVG, expanding to Imperator Caesar Decimus Caelius Balbinus Augustus. The inclusion of the praenomen and gentilicium ('Decimus Caelius') firmly established the emperor's distinguished patrician ancestry, reinforcing the senatorial legitimacy of his elevation. The reverse legend reads PIETAS MVTVA AVGG, which translates to 'The Mutual Piety of the Augusti'. In Roman religious and political thought, pietas signified far more than modern religious devotion; it encompassed dutiful loyalty, moral obligation, and conscientious fulfillment of duty toward the gods, the state, and one's colleagues. The specific use of the adjective MVTVA ('mutual') combined with the dual 'GG' in AVGG (designating two Augusti) directly reinforced the reciprocal nature of the partnership. The lettering on these dies is neatly engraved in classical Roman capitals, maintaining high typographic discipline despite the rushed output of the Rome mint during this crisis period.

Typology and Chronological Sequence

In the standard typological framework of Roman Imperial Coinage, RIC IV Balbinus 12 is categorized within the brief second phase of the joint reign, dated securely to late spring or early summer of AD 238. Upon the initial accession of Balbinus and Pupienus in April AD 238, the mint of Rome produced denarii alongside a standard bronze denomination suite. However, as military expenses mounted and the need for donatives became critical, the administration instituted the radiate double denarius across a coordinated ideological program. RIC IV Balbinus 12 was struck as part of a specialized thematic series celebrating collegiate unity, which included PIETAS MVTVA AVGG, FIDES MVTVA AVGG, CARITAS MVTVA AVGG, and AMICITIA MVTVA AVGG. Each type was carefully balanced between the two emperors, with identical reverse dies and reverse concepts distributed across obverses bearing Balbinus's and Pupienus's respective portraits. Because the joint reign lasted only approximately ninety-nine days, concluding with the murder of both Augusti in late July AD 238, the production lifespan of RIC IV Balbinus 12 was exceptionally compressed, leaving a discrete, tightly circumscribed emission without long-term typological evolution.

Circulation, Hoard Evidence, and Historical Impact

Although minted for only a few weeks in AD 238, RIC IV Balbinus 12 circulated extensively across the Roman Empire due to the massive volume of emergency coin production required during the crisis. Hoard data from Britain, Gaul, the Rhine frontier, and the Danubian provinces indicate that these radiate coins were immediately dispersed via military payrolls and donatives. In subsequent decades, as the third-century inflationary spiral accelerated under the Gordianic and Decian dynasties, earlier radiates from AD 238 remained in active circulation because their silver fineness (nearly 50 percent) was higher than that of issues struck after AD 250. Many specimens appear in mid-to-late third-century hoards, such as the Dorchester and Gloucester hoards in Britain, showing moderate to heavy wear consistent with several decades of use before eventual hoarding or demonetization during the reform of Aurelian in AD 274. Today, RIC IV Balbinus 12 provides crucial physical evidence of the ideological mechanisms and monetary expedients through which the senatorial elite attempted, albeit briefly, to govern the Roman world.

References

1. Coin Hoards and Hoarding in the Roman Empire. pp. 85-104
2. Coins of the Roman Empire. pp. 82-88
3. Roman Coins from the Earliest Times to the Fall of the Western Empire. pp. 128-132
4. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Balbinus 12. ric.4.balb.12
5. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. p. 170, no. 12