Macrinus Sestertius RIC IV Macrinus 123c

Monetary Context and Denominational System

In 217 AD, the sestertius held a central position as the flagship large bronze denomination within the Roman monetary hierarchy, functioning as the premier base-metal coin for high-value daily retail trade, civic payments, and administrative accounting. Valued at four asses or one quarter of a silver denarius, the sestertius had historically been struck in orichalcum, a copper-zinc alloy that gave freshly minted pieces a golden appearance, although successive Severan issues often saw declining zinc proportions and increased lead or tin contents. Following Caracalla's monetary adjustments, which included the formal introduction of the double denarius or antoninianus in 215 AD, the Roman currency system was marked by inflationary pressures and heightened demands for military expenditures. When Macrinus seized power in April 217 AD in Mesopotamia, he inherited an imperial treasury depleted by Caracalla's costly Parthian campaign and excessive military donatives. Although Macrinus sought to initiate fiscal reforms by returning to pre-Caracallan silver weights and fineness, the token bronze denominations retained their established physical standards. Large bronze sestertii such as RIC IV Macrinus 123c played a vital propaganda role because their substantial surface area allowed detailed iconographic and epigraphic pronouncements to circulate among the urban population of Rome and Italy, where the Senate and civilian populace were acutely receptive to traditional imperial virtues and assurances of military order.

Production Technology and Mint Attribution

The emission catalogued as RIC IV Macrinus 123c is securely attributed to the official imperial mint at Rome. Although Macrinus governed from Antioch and the eastern provinces throughout his brief fourteen-month reign, never setting foot in the imperial capital, the mint of Rome operated continuously under the supervision of senatorial authorities and imperial freedmen. Engravers at the Rome mint executed dies based on official imperial dispatches, sculptural models, and formal letters announcing the emperor's elevation and titles. The minting technique utilized cast bronze flans heated to moderate temperatures and manually struck between heavy iron or bronze dies. Production of sestertii required powerful strikes, frequently leaving irregular edges, bevelled rims, and noticeable flan cracking along the perimeter. Weight variation among individual strikes of the sestertius remained common due to al marco manufacturing, where flans were struck to a collective batch weight rather than individually calibrated to exact gram thresholds. Typical preserved specimens of this issue weigh between 20.0 and 24.5 grams, with module diameters spanning approximately 29 to 32 millimeters. The presence of the letters S C (Senatus Consulto) on the reverse field explicitly reaffirms the traditional authority of the Senate over aes coinage, an institutional courtesy that Macrinus was particularly anxious to maintain in Rome while he remained physically distant on the Syrian frontier.

Obverse Portraiture and Composition

The obverse of RIC IV Macrinus 123c presents an expressive right-facing bust of the emperor Macrinus, executed in the mature Severan court style. The emperor is depicted wearing a laurel wreath tied at the nape of the neck with ribbon ties extending downward onto the drapery. Unlike simpler head-only portraits, the bust for this type is fully draped and cuirassed, combining military armour with civic or imperial cloth. This compositional choice highlights both the administrative dignity of the ruler and his role as supreme military commander. Because Macrinus was absent from the capital when production commenced, the earliest dies at Rome adopted portrait features heavily influenced by the iconography of his predecessors, particularly Septimius Severus and Caracalla, depicting him with a full, neatly trimmed curly beard and a squared jawline. Over the course of 217 AD, the Rome mint refined Macrinus's portraiture into a distinctive likeness characterized by prominent brow ridges, deeply set eyes, and a broad nose. The laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust on RIC IV 123c demonstrates fine die engraving, with meticulous rendering of the folds of the paludamentum over the shoulder plate of the cuirass, reflecting the technical prowess of the principal die cutters in Rome.

Reverse Iconography and Symbolism

The reverse design of RIC IV Macrinus 123c depicts the personification Fides (Faith or Military Loyalty), rendered standing facing with her head turned to the right. In each hand she firmly grasps an upright legionary standard (signum), embellished with discs (phalerae) and crowned with wreaths or hand ornaments. Uniquely for this specific subtype, Fides rests her right foot upon a military helmet placed on the ground. The placement of the foot on a helmet is a classical motif signifying victory, pacification, and complete control over martial violence. Flanking the lower fields of the design are the bold letters S C, divided evenly to the left and right of the personification. The iconography corresponds to the traditional concept of Fides Militum, celebrating the unyielding fidelity of the legions toward their newly acclaimed commander. For Macrinus, an equestrian outsider whose elevation followed the murder of the popular Caracalla, winning and sustaining the allegiance of the soldiers was an existential necessity. By displaying Fides holding the military standards over a subdued helmet, the coin communicated that the loyalty of the armed forces secured stability and peace throughout the empire, reassuring the Roman civilian populace that the legions stood united behind the new administration.

Epigraphic Style and Legend Readings

The legends on RIC IV Macrinus 123c are executed in clear, tall Roman capitals positioned along the inner border of dots. The obverse legend reads IMP CAES M OPEL SEV MACRINVS AVG, expanding to Imperator Caesar Marcus Opellius Severus Macrinus Augustus. Upon his elevation, Macrinus assumed the praenomen of Imperator and Caesar alongside his family name Opellius. To foster an impression of dynastic continuity and appeal to Severan loyalists, he deliberately adopted the cognomen Severus into his official nomenclature. The reverse legend reads PONTIF MAX TR P P P S C, which abbreviates Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate, Pater Patriae, Senatus Consulto. This legend confirms Macrinus's assumption of the high priesthood (Pontifex Maximus), his first grant of tribunician power (Tribunicia Potestas, unnumbered and thus designating his initial regnal period in 217 AD), and the traditional title of Pater Patriae (Father of his Country). The inclusion of S C at the base of the reverse field records the constitutional sanction of the Senate for the base-metal emission. Epigraphically, the lettering is well balanced and proportional, typical of the first officinae of the Rome mint in the early third century AD.

Typological Variants and Chronological Sequence

The issue catalogued under RIC IV Macrinus 123 forms part of a coordinated series of early sestertii issued during Macrinus's first tribunician year between April and late December 217 AD. Within the standard reference framework established by Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham in Roman Imperial Coinage, type 123 encompasses multiple bust treatments sharing the same reverse legend and basic composition. Subtype 123a features a simple laureate head right, while subtype 123b presents a laureate and draped bust right. Type 123c is specifically defined by the combination of a laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust facing right on the obverse paired with the reverse showing Fides with her right foot on a helmet. Chronologically, this type belongs to the earliest striking phase of the reign, issued before Macrinus assumed his second tribunician power (TR P II) and second consulship (COS II) on January 1, 218 AD. The subsequent emissions of 218 AD replace the initial TR P formula with TR P II, providing an unambiguous terminus ante quem of late 217 AD for RIC IV 123c. The type is closely linked to contemporary denarii and middle bronzes (dupondii and asses) carrying identical slogans, demonstrating an integrated thematic rollout across all denominations at the mint of Rome.

Circulation and Archaeological Patterns

During the early third century AD, Roman sestertii enjoyed extensive circulation across the western provinces of the empire, particularly throughout Italy, Gaul, the Rhineland, and the Danubian frontiers. Because Macrinus ruled for only fourteen months before his defeat and death in June 218 AD, his base-metal coinages were struck in significantly smaller quantities than those of his long-reigning predecessors Septimius Severus and Caracalla. Sestertii of the 217 AD emission, including RIC IV 123c, entered general commercial channels alongside older Severan, Antonine, and Trajanic bronzes, which routinely circulated for decades. Following Macrinus's overthrow by the partisans of Elagabalus and his subsequent damnatio memoriae, his coins were not subjected to systematic recall or demonetization, as base-metal money remained essential for everyday small-scale trade. Many surviving specimens exhibit moderate to heavy surface wear and patina formation consistent with prolonged circulation into the reign of Severus Alexander and the mid-third century crisis. In hoards and archaeological excavation finds across the European provinces, sestertii of Macrinus appear in low single-digit frequencies, underscoring their relative scarcity compared to the massive bronze outputs of adjacent reigns.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. V: Pertinax to Elagabalus. p. 501
2. The Roman Coinage of Macrinus and Diadumenian. pp. 21-40
3. Roman Coins from the Earliest Times to the Fall of the Western Empire. pp. 140-155
4. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Macrinus 123c. ric.4.mcs.123c
5. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. p. 14