Caracalla Silver Quinarius, RIC IV Caracalla 317A (quinarius)

Monetary Context and Denominational Role

During the reign of Caracalla (AD 198 to 217, ruling as sole Augustus from late AD 211), the Roman silver currency underwent profound structural adjustments. The principal circulating silver denomination remained the denarius, which was supplemented in AD 214 or 215 by the introduction of the radiate double denarius, commonly designated modernly as the antoninianus. In this tiered monetary framework, the silver quinarius, valued at half a denarius or eight bronze asses, occupied a minor yet persistent institutional niche. Unlike the Republic and early Principate, when quinarii occasionally circulated in larger volumes in specific regional contexts such as Gaul, the third-century silver quinarius was struck only intermittently. Numismatic evidence indicates that quinarii were not produced to facilitate standard retail exchange or address routine liquidity shortages. Instead, imperial mint authorities produced fractional silver for ceremonial disbursements, such as public congiaria and military donatives. Because soldiers and citizens received cash distributions calculated in precise fractional sums, fractional denominations allowed exact payments to be rendered in precious metal rather than bulky bronze coinage. RIC IV 317A was issued under this administrative paradigm, maintaining a traditional denomination whose survival was closely tied to court ritual and military accounting.

Mint Organization and Production Standards

Production of RIC IV Caracalla 317A is securely attributed to the imperial mint situated in the city of Rome, which handled virtually all official precious metal striking for Caracalla during the latter half of his sole reign. Under the Severan administration, the Rome mint operated in organized officinae or workshops, though quinarii rarely bore explicit workshop marks. The physical production of quinarii demanded calibrated die engraving tailored to flans significantly smaller than those prepared for the denarius. While contemporary denarii typically weighed between 3.0 and 3.3 grams, the theoretical weight standard for the silver quinarius stood at approximately 1.5 to 1.6 grams, with observed specimens often exhibiting variations between 1.3 and 1.7 grams due to loose tolerances at the mint. In terms of metallurgical purity, Caracalla's silver coinage had suffered substantial debasement compared to the earlier Principate. The silver fineness of denarii and quinarii produced after AD 212 averaged around 50 to 55 percent fine silver, with the remainder composed of copper and minor trace elements. The flans were cast, heated, and struck by hand between engraved iron or bronze dies, yielding coin blanks that often show slight eccentricity and irregular edges typical of rapid high-temperature striking.

Obverse Portraiture and Typology

The obverse of RIC IV Caracalla 317A presents an imperial portrait rendered in the mature Severan court style. Caracalla is depicted facing right, wearing a laurel wreath tied at the back of the head, combined with military drapery and a cuirass visible over his shoulder and chest. The laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust represents the standard martial depiction adopted by the emperor during his solo campaigns, conveying vigilance and commander-in-chief authority. Compared to his youthful portraits as Caesar and early co-emperor with Septimius Severus, this portrait displays the heavier facial features, furrowed brow, and short, curly beard characteristic of his later reign. The die engravers at the Rome mint successfully captured the aggressive, stern expression that Caracalla favored in his public portraiture, even within the constricted field of a fractional die measuring approximately 14 to 16 millimeters in diameter. The relief is typically well defined, with detailed rendering of the laurel ties falling across the neck and the folds of the paludamentum over the breastplate.

Reverse Iconography and Symbolism

The reverse design of RIC IV 317A depicts the goddess Victoria (Victory) in motion, advancing toward the left. She is rendered winged and draped in a flowing chiton that billows slightly behind her to convey dynamic forward movement. In her extended right hand she holds aloft a circular laurel wreath, the classic Hellenistic and Roman symbol of military triumph and divine favor. Over her left shoulder, she rests a long, sloping palm branch held securely in her left hand, further reinforcing the thematic message of completed conquest and martial peace. This specific iconographical formula possessed centuries of numismatic precedent; throughout the Republic and early Empire, the quinarius had been so consistently decorated with depictions of Victory that the denomination was colloquially known in early Latin literature as the victoriatus, even after the original victoriatus coin had been replaced by the denarius-based quinarius. By choosing this traditional reverse type, the mint masters under Caracalla maintained an unmistakable visual shorthand that explicitly connected the fractional silver denomination with triumphal imperial ideology.

Epigraphy and Inscriptional Analysis

The legends on RIC IV Caracalla 317A are executed in clean, classical Roman capital letters running along the inner border of beads. The obverse inscription reads ANTONINVS PIVS AVG GERM, which expands in official titulature as Antoninus Pius Augustus Germanicus. The cognomen Germanicus was officially assumed by Caracalla late in AD 213 following his successful military operations against the Alamanni along the Rhine and Danube frontiers, providing an indisputable terminus post quem for the issue. The reverse inscription reads COS IIII P P, contracting the titles Consul Quartum (Consul for the fourth time) and Pater Patriae (Father of his Country). Caracalla entered his fourth consulship on 1 January AD 213 alongside Decimus Caelius Calvinus Balbinus, and he did not hold another consulship before his death in April AD 217. Because the reverse omits tribunician numbering (tribunicia potestate) that would pinpoint an exact annual issue, the combined titulature establishes a definitive window of production spanning between the assumption of Germanicus in autumn AD 213 and the end of the reign in AD 217.

Typological Variants and Chronological Placement

Within the corpus of Roman Imperial Coinage, RIC IV Caracalla 317A is catalogued under the joint consular issues of the sole reign. The type is closely linked chronologically and thematically to corresponding denarii bearing identical imperial titles and victory-themed reverses. In standard references, minor die variants exist primarily in bust truncation and drapery arrangement; while the primary listing specifies a laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, individual dies occasionally vary in the prominence of the cuirass or the treatment of the mantle folds. Some earlier nineteenth-century references, such as Henry Cohen's catalogue, grouped related quinarius varieties without distinguishing minor die nuances, which later twentieth-century studies by Harold Mattingly and Cathy King systematized. Chronologically, the type was most plausibly produced during the mobilization or aftermath of the Germanic campaign between AD 213 and 215, potentially prepared for donative distributions accompanying the celebration of imperial victory titles or the departure of the imperial court toward the eastern provinces in AD 214. The absence of Parthian titles confirms that the type ceased production before the eastern campaign generated new victory cognomina in late AD 216 or 217.

Hoard Evidence and Circulation Patterns

The circulation pattern of RIC IV Caracalla 317A conforms to the broader archaeological behavior of third-century Roman silver quinarii. Unlike denarii, which circulated heavily across the civilian economy and occur by the thousands in hoards throughout the European and Mediterranean provinces, silver quinarii are consistently scarce in archaeological contexts. When quinarii do appear in hoards, they almost always occur in very small quantities nestled within large accumulations of denarii and antoniniani. This pattern suggests that quinarii were spent alongside full-denomination silver but, because of their smaller physical size and lower mint output, quickly dropped out of active circulation or were withheld by recipients as bullion or commemorative tokens. Furthermore, the debasement of Severan silver created economic conditions under which older, purer silver was hoarded, while lower-value denominations like the quinarius saw limited replenishment. Surviving examples of RIC IV 317A frequently show moderate to light wear, indicating that many specimens were retained in private savings or spent only briefly before being removed from currency streams during the economic disruptions of the mid-third century AD.

References

1. Description historique des monnaies frappees sous l'Empire romain, Tome IV. p. 153
2. Roman Quinarii from the Republic to Diocletian and the Tetrarchy. pp. 280-285
3. Roman Coins from the Earliest Times to the Fall of the Western Empire. pp. 120-128
4. RIC IV Caracalla 317A (quinarius). ric.4.crl.317A_quinarius
5. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part I: Pertinax to Geta. p. 257, no. 317A