Caracalla Silver Antoninianus RIC IV Caracalla 289D

Monetary and Economic Context

The introduction of the antoninianus by Caracalla in AD 215 occurred against a backdrop of escalating state expenditures, driven primarily by significant increases in military remuneration and lavish imperial building projects. The traditional silver denarius, long the backbone of daily commerce and army payrolls, had already suffered successive debasements under Septimius Severus, falling to approximately fifty percent fineness. Rather than reducing the weight or silver content of the denarius further, Caracalla created a new denomination. Although modern numismatists designate this coin as the antoninianus after the imperial name Antoninus, its official ancient name remains unrecorded in contemporary texts, where it was likely referred to simply as a double denarius or radiate piece. The coin was tariffed at two denarii, yet its physical weight of approximately 5.0 to 5.2 grams and silver fineness of roughly fifty percent meant that it provided the state with an intrinsic metal saving of nearly twenty-five percent compared to two separate denarii. Issue RIC IV Caracalla 289D belongs to the closing phase of this initial production window. Struck in AD 217, the piece exemplifies the continued reliance on overvalued silver currency to finance the Parthian expedition before political instability interrupted mint operations.

Mint Operations and Production

RIC IV Caracalla 289D was struck exclusively at the principal imperial mint in Rome. During the later years of Caracalla's reign, the mint in Rome operated an elaborate workshop system capable of producing large quantities of silver coin to support eastern military logistics and civilian distribution. Dies were prepared by skilled imperial engravers following centralized stylistic mandates, ensuring uniform portraiture and consistent theological messaging. Production utilized carefully prepared flans that were hot-struck between upper and lower iron dies. The distinctive radiate crown was consistently engraved on the obverse die to immediately signal the double tariff to merchants and tax collectors. Blank planchets were cast and occasionally chemically treated to enrich silver on the outer surfaces, masking the high proportion of base copper in the interior alloy. Metallurgical analyses of contemporary antoniniani from the Rome mint indicate an average fineness hovering around fifty percent silver, paired with minor traces of lead and tin typical of recycled imperial bullion.

Obverse Portraiture and Attributes

The obverse of RIC IV Caracalla 289D presents a mature portrait of Caracalla facing right, crowned with a radiate solar crown and wearing classical drapery over his shoulders. In Roman numismatic typology, the radiate crown functioned as a critical denominational key, differentiating the double denarius from the laurel-crowned single denarius, much like the crescent moon beneath female empress busts distinguished their double-tariffed counterparts. Caracalla is portrayed with a close-cropped military beard, curled hair, and the furrowed, severe brow that characterized the martial aesthetic of his mature likenesses. The specific classification of variety 289D rests upon the exact bust type: draped without visible armor, viewed from the side or back, distinguishing it from related companion varieties that depict the emperor as cuirassed or cuirassed and draped together. This artistic rendering emphasized both solar authority and traditional civic leadership while maintaining the imposing military persona favored by the regime.

Reverse Iconography and Attributes

The reverse design of this issue features Serapis standing left, draped in a mantle and wearing a modius or sacred cylindrical grain measure upon his head. In his raised right hand, Serapis holds a wreath that appears to enclose ears of corn, while his left hand rests upon a tall upright sceptre. Serapis was a syncretic Greco-Egyptian divinity associated with healing, fertility, the underworld, and agricultural abundance. Caracalla visited Alexandria in late AD 215, where his intense personal devotion to Serapis was prominently manifested in sacrifices and temple visits, even as his relationship with the local population turned catastrophic. The appearance of Serapis on the official Rome coinage of AD 217 served a dual political and religious purpose: it invoked divine patronage for the emperor's eastern campaigns and assured the empire of agricultural stability and divine favor. The combination of the grain basket and ears of corn emphasized the god's role as guarantor of the imperial grain supply, vital for the contentment of Rome and the maintenance of the legionary supply lines.

Epigraphy and Imperial Titulature

The legends on RIC IV Caracalla 289D provide precise historical markers for its date and administrative propaganda. The obverse legend reads ANTONINVS PIVS AVG GERM, expanding to Antoninus Pius Augustus Germanicus. This legend displays Caracalla's formal imperial name, the honorific Pius inherited from his father's dynastic branding, the supreme title Augustus, and the victory cognomen Germanicus, awarded following his campaigns on the Rhine and Danube frontiers in AD 213. The reverse legend reads P M TR P XX COS IIII P P, representing Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate Vicesimum, Consul Quartum, Pater Patriae. The formula proclaims Caracalla as high priest, holder of the tribunician power for the twentieth time, consul for the fourth time, and father of his country. The twentieth tribunician year commenced on January 1, AD 217, meaning the legend provides an absolute terminus post quem of early AD 217 for the manufacture of the coin.

Typological Classification and Chronology

Within the system established by Mattingly and Sydenham in The Roman Imperial Coinage, type 289 encompasses a family of antoniniani issued in AD 217 sharing the twentieth tribunician year formula and the standing Serapis reverse. Sub-types A through D differentiate the specific treatment of the imperial bust on the obverse die. Whereas RIC 289A features a radiate and cuirassed bust, RIC 289B exhibits a draped and cuirassed bust from behind, and RIC 289C shows a draped and cuirassed bust facing right, RIC 289D denotes the specific combination of a radiate, draped bust facing right without breastplate elements visible. Because Caracalla entered his twentieth tribunician year on January 1, AD 217, and was assassinated near Carrhae on April 8, AD 217, the production window for RIC 289D was exceptionally narrow, spanning roughly three to four months. Upon his death and the accession of Macrinus, production of the denomination halted almost immediately, as the new emperor temporarily discontinued antoninianus production in favor of traditional denarii.

Circulation, Hoards, and Afterlife

Although minted in Rome during the final months of the reign, coins of RIC IV Caracalla 289D entered circulation through legionary payments and provincial transfers across Europe, the Balkans, and the Near East. The initial issue of antoniniani under Caracalla did not immediately displace the denarius; instead, both denominations circulated side by side throughout the Severan period. When Macrinus assumed power in AD 217, he ceased striking radiate silver, and Elagabalus only struck them sporadically between AD 218 and 219 before suspending the denomination entirely. As a result, Caracalla's antoniniani were heavily hoarded alongside denarii during the mid-third century. As subsequent emperors lowered the silver fineness of the restored antoninianus under Gordian III and his successors down to five percent or less, earlier Severan pieces containing fifty percent silver were systematically withdrawn from circulation and melted by imperial authorities, leaving surviving specimens primarily preserved in buried hoards deposited during the turbulent decades between AD 250 and 270.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. V: Pertinax to Elagabalus. pp. 463-464, nos. 191-192
2. Money and Government in the Roman Empire. pp. 218-223
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part I: Pertinax to Geta. p. 254, no. 289
4. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Caracalla 289D. ric.4.crl.289D