Macrinus Sestertius, RIC IV Macrinus 143

Monetary Context and Denominational Role

During the early third century AD, the monetary system of the Roman Empire faced mounting fiscal pressure, yet the sestertius retained its position as the premier brass denomination for routine commerce, administrative disbursements, and civic prestige. While silver coinage such as the denarius and the recently introduced antoninianus had undergone measurable debasement under the Severan dynasty, base-metal coinage struck in Rome remained an essential component of urban liquidity and high-visibility state messaging. The sestertius, struck in orichalcum, carried an intrinsic weight and physical module that commanded popular confidence in western and metropolitan markets. When Macrinus assumed imperial power in April 217 AD after the murder of Caracalla near Carrhae, he took control of an imperial balance sheet severely strained by military expenditure and substantial donatives. In this fraught environment, the regular issue of traditional base-metal denominations served an indispensable legitimating function. The strike of large copper-alloy sestertii at Rome demonstrated that administrative functions continued without disruption, affirming the regular operation of the state apparatus.

Production and Mint Allocation

The production of RIC IV Macrinus 143 is securely assigned to the principal imperial mint at Rome. Although Macrinus governed from Antioch and did not visit Rome during his brief fourteen-month reign, the metropolitan mint maintained its operational autonomy and die-engraving traditions under the oversight of the Senate and imperial procurators. Sestertii of this period were cast on thick, rounded flans composed of orichalcum, an alloy predominantly of copper and zinc, though third-century metal analyses frequently show rising traces of lead and tin indicative of secondary scrap recycling. Production required heavy bronze dies capable of enduring the immense striking pressures needed to displace deep metal blanks. The dies for RIC IV Macrinus 143 exhibit the refined classical workmanship of the central Roman officinae, featuring sharply modeled facial features, finely striated cuirass detailing, and balanced epigraphy. In contrast to eastern provincial and imperial emergency issues struck near Antioch, the Rome mint sestertii continued the weight norms of the Caracallan period, typically centering around 20 to 25 grams, though considerable variation occurred due to individual flan preparation methods.

Obverse Portraiture and Iconography

The obverse of RIC IV Macrinus 143 presents an authoritative portrait of Macrinus facing right, wearing a laurel wreath and dressed in military cuirass. Early portraits from this first Rome issue were executed before the mint engravers had access to first-hand likenesses of the new emperor. Consequently, the earliest dies reflect an idealized amalgamation that drew upon Severan conventions, presenting a broad face, closely trimmed curly beard, and structured facial modeling reminiscent of Caracalla or Septimius Severus. As authentic dispatches and official prototypes arrived from Antioch, the die-cutters adjusted the portraiture toward Macrinus's true features, exhibiting a longer, narrower face, a more prominent straight nose, and an elongated, neatly manicured beard. The inclusion of the military cuirass over the shoulders rather than the civil paludamentum emphasized the emperor's imperium and military authority, a crucial visual claim for a ruler who had risen through the equestrian civil bureaucracy as praetorian prefect rather than the senatorial high command.

Reverse Iconography and Symbolism

The reverse iconography of RIC IV Macrinus 143 centers entirely on Securitas, the personification of civic safety, imperial stability, and protection against internal and external danger. Draped in a long stola, Securitas stands facing left with her legs casually crossed, holding a vertical sceptre in her right hand while resting her left elbow upon a low stone column or cippus. The stance of crossed legs combined with the physical support of a column was a well-established Roman artistic convention signifying profound composure, absence of anxiety, and unshakeable institutional stability. By leaning against the column, Securitas visually articulates that the Roman state remains firmly grounded and unbothered by dynastic rupture. The sceptre held in her right hand reinforces royal authority and divinely sanctioned rule. At a time when the sudden violent removal of Caracalla could easily have triggered widespread panic and civil strife, the dissemination of Securitas on metropolitan bronze served as an overt ideological reassurance to the Roman citizenry that social and political equilibrium had been restored under Macrinus.

Epigraphy and Titulature

The obverse legend reads IMP CAES M OPEL SEV MACRINVS AVG, transcribed as Imperator Caesar Marcus Opellius Severus Macrinus Augustus. Notably, Macrinus deliberately incorporated the cognomen Severus into his official style to construct a formal, if fictional, continuity with the Severan dynasty. By doing so, he sought to appease the legions who remained fervently loyal to the memory of Septimius Severus and Caracalla. The lettering is cleanly cut in high imperial majuscule capitals characteristic of early third-century Rome mint epigraphy. The reverse legend reads PONTIF MAX TR P COS P P S C, expanding to Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate, Consul, Pater Patriae, Senatus Consulto. The phrase asserts the complete suite of traditional constitutional titles accepted by the new emperor upon his accession. The inclusion of P P (Pater Patriae) in the first emission reflects the prompt confirmation of this honor by the Senate, while the prominent letters S C situated in the lower fields certify that the bronze coinage was struck pursuant to senatorial decree, preserving the historic institutional framework of Roman civic coinage.

Typology and Chronological Classification

Within the typology established by the Roman Imperial Coinage and refined by twentieth-century studies such as Curtis Clay's chronological re-evaluation of Macrinus's reign, RIC IV Macrinus 143 belongs squarely to the first emission of bronze coinage at Rome, datable between spring and late autumn of 217 AD. The key chronological indicator is the reverse legend, which combines TR P (unaccompanied by an iteration number) with COS. Macrinus entered his first consulship as consul suffectus earlier in 217 AD and took his second consulship (COS II) on January 1, 218 AD, while his tribunician power was renewed to TR P II in late 217 AD or early 218 AD depending on the reckoning system adopted at Rome. Later issues of the Securitas reverse update the titulature to reflect TR P II and COS II, and some versions transition Securitas from a standing posture to a seated posture or alter the placement of the column. Consequently, RIC 143 designates exclusively the earliest standing Securitas variant on sestertii with the uniterated TR P and COS titulature.

Circulation, Hoard Evidence, and Survival

Sestertii of Macrinus, including RIC IV Macrinus 143, enjoyed a widespread but comparatively thin distribution throughout the western and Mediterranean provinces of the Roman Empire. Because Macrinus's reign lasted only fourteen months before his defeat and death at the hands of Elagabalus in June 218 AD, the total volume of his metropolitan bronze output was limited compared to the expansive issues of Septimius Severus or Caracalla. Sestertii of this type circulated alongside late Antonine and earlier Severan bronze coins in commercial centers, as evidenced by excavation finds and western coin hoards across Gaul, Britain, and the German frontier zones. In these contexts, sestertii frequently remained in active use for decades until the general collapse of large base-metal circulation during the monetary crises of the mid-third century. Surviving specimens of RIC 143 show varying degrees of wear from extensive circulation, with well-preserved examples retaining the strong die relief characteristic of the Rome mint's engravers.

References

1. I Grandi Bronzi Imperiali: Macrinus - Diadumenianus. Vol. IV.1
2. The Roman Imperial Coinage of Macrinus and Diadumenianus. Numismatische Zeitschrift 93, pp. 21-40
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Macrinus 143. ric.4.mcs.143
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. p. 15