Macrinus Sestertius, RIC IV Macrinus 141c

Monetary Context and Imperial Policy

Under the Severan dynasty, the sestertius served as the flagship brass denomination of imperial bronze coinage, fulfilling a dual economic function as high-value everyday token currency and a conspicuous medium for official propaganda. By AD 217, the Roman monetary system was contending with inflationary pressures, heightened military spending, and the progressive debasement of the silver denarius and antoninianus. Despite recurring silver adjustments, the Rome mint maintained substantial continuity in base-metal production, striking large orichalcum sestertii at a theoretical standard fluctuating broadly between twenty and twenty-six grams. When Macrinus assumed the purple in April AD 217 following the death of Caracalla, he became the first emperor of equestrian rather than senatorial rank. Macrinus remained physically absent from the capital throughout his brief reign, commanding forces on the eastern frontier. The production of traditional senatorial bronze coinage at Rome, authorized by the ancestral formula Senatus Consulto (S C), took on vital political significance. The Senate sought to assert its traditional constitutional prerogatives by ratifying his titles, while Macrinus urgently required monumental base-metal issues to circulate his portrait and political pledges among the civilian populations of Italy and the Latin-speaking provinces. RIC IV Macrinus 141c emerged from this fragile political equilibrium, manifesting both the Senate's formal decree and the emperor's bid for institutional acceptance.

Mint Attribution and Production

All imperial copper-alloy coinage of Macrinus bearing the mark S C was struck at the central mint in Rome. Operating through several well-organized workshops or officinae, the mint personnel prepared flans by casting circular blanks in open or bivalve moulds before finishing and striking them between hand-cut iron or bronze dies. The metallic composition for sestertii of this era consisted of orichalcum, a copper-zinc alloy possessing a distinctive golden hue when fresh, though varying concentrations of lead and tin were frequently introduced as secondary elements or through the recycling of older bronze scrap. The execution of RIC IV Macrinus 141c reflects the distinct stylistic progression of the Rome mint in the early months of the reign. Because the Rome engravers lacked an authentic life portrait of the new ruler, the earliest dies relied upon descriptive dispatches or adapted portraits from the late Severan stock, depicting an older, bearded statesman with idealized features. Die pairing was tight, and production was organized across distinct officinae responsible for matching the ruler's portrait with carefully selected reverse types emphasizing piety, security, and military fidelity. Sestertii of type 141c demonstrate consistent technical workmanship, with axial die alignments predominantly adhering to a six-o'clock or twelve-o'clock orientation standard for early third-century Roman mint output.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Image

The obverse of RIC IV Macrinus 141c presents a right-facing bust of Macrinus combining three distinct imperial attributes: the laurel wreath (laureate), civilian cloak (draped), and military breastplate (cuirassed). The laurel wreath signifies triumph and imperatorial authority, rendered with delicate leaves bound by ribbons falling behind the neck. The combination of paludamentum and cuirass emphasizes the dual role of the emperor as both a military commander-in-chief and a protective magistrate. Stylistically, Macrinus is depicted with a carefully trimmed, neat beard and closely cropped hair, an appearance consistent with his mature years and professional judicial and administrative background. In early AD 217, the Rome mint created three primary stylistic varieties of the emperor's portrait, which numismatists classify by the length of the beard and the degree of facial fullness. Catalogue type 141c encompasses dies displaying this fully articulated bust variant, balancing realistic facial modelling with the elevated gravity expected of an imperial ruler. The die-cutters exercised artistic care in rendering the folds of the drapery across the shoulder and the anatomical contours of the cuirass, achieving a balanced, dignified composition that filled the broad circular field of the sestertius flan.

Reverse Iconography: Fides Militum

The reverse design of RIC IV Macrinus 141c is dedicated to the military virtue of fidelity, personified by the goddess Fides. She is depicted standing facing the viewer with her head turned to the right. In her outstretched hands, she firmly grasps two military standards (signa), which are adorned with round phalerae, crescents, and terminal emblems characteristic of Roman auxiliary and legionary units. A critical iconographic detail is her right foot, which is placed atop a fallen or discarded military helmet. This posture carries deep symbolic resonance: the resting foot upon a combat helmet can signify either the pacification of military strife, triumph over opposing forces, or the subjection of martial violence to ordered discipline and steadfast allegiance. Fides is attired in a long, flowing stola and palla that drape gracefully around her lower body, visually conveying dignity and enduring stability.Flanking the central personification in the lower fields are the large letters S and C, representing Senatus Consulto. The inclusion of the senate's decree on an overtly military reverse served as a potent constitutional synthesis, affirming that the loyalty owed by the legions to the new princeps was endorsed and formalized by the venerable authority of the Roman Senate.

Epigraphic Analysis and Titulature

The legends on RIC IV Macrinus 141c provide vital chronological and ideological markers. The obverse reads IMP CAES M OPEL SEV MACRINVS AVG, expanding to Imperator Caesar Marcus Opellius Severus Macrinus Augustus. The prefix Imperator and suffix Augustus signify supreme executive and military command. Crucially, the inclusion of the cognomen Severus demonstrates Macrinus's immediate political strategy: by adopting the Severan family name, he sought to present himself as the legitimate political heir of Septimius Severus and Caracalla, thereby mollifying soldiers devoted to the dynasty. The reverse legend is rendered as PONTIF MAX TR P COS P P S C, an abbreviated formula denoting Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate, Consul, Pater Patriae, Senatus Consulto. This comprehensive enumeration confirms that Macrinus received the supreme pontificate, the tribunician power, the consulship, and the title Father of the Country. While Macrinus did not officially enter his first full ordinary consulship until January AD 218, the simple title COS on early AD 217 issues reflects consular ornaments or an immediate imperial assumption of consular rank recognized by the Senate upon his elevation. The abbreviation P P (Pater Patriae) further underscores the Senate's rapid conferral of traditional honors, while S C explicitly marks the coin as a senatorial copper-alloy emission.

Typology and Chronological Placement

Within the typology established by Mattingly and Sydenham in Roman Imperial Coinage, the base-metal issues of Macrinus bearing the unnumbered tribunician formula TR P and first consulship COS belong to the opening phase of his reign in AD 217. In the overarching scheme of RIC IV, number 141 is subdivided into lettered varieties based upon the obverse bust configuration: type 141a features a simple laureate head, 141b bears a laureate and cuirassed bust, and 141c specifically designates the laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust. Numismatic research by Curtis L. Clay has refined the sequence of Macrinus's coinage, proving that the Rome mint struck three successive issues in AD 217 before the emperor renewed his tribunician power (TR P II) and assumed his second consulship (COS II) for AD 218. RIC IV Macrinus 141c belongs to the first issue of Rome, struck between May and late summer of AD 217. It was produced alongside parallel reverse types depicting Salus, Securitas, and Felicitas. The rapid sequence of these issues demonstrates how swiftly the mint adapted to political updates arriving from the East, before transitioning entirely to dated legends bearing TR P II in the closing months of AD 217 and early AD 218.

Circulation Patterns and Monetary Life

Sestertii of Macrinus entered circulation across a monetary landscape dominated by worn second-century brass coins of Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius, supplemented by substantial quantities of Severan bronze. Due to the brevity of Macrinus's fourteen-month reign, the overall volume of his sestertii was modest compared to the extensive outputs of Caracalla or the subsequent massive issues of Severus Alexander. Finds of RIC IV Macrinus 141c and related early issues are recorded primarily in Italy, the Rhine frontier, and the Danubian garrisons, reflecting the movement of military pay and administrative commerce across the European provinces. Because the intrinsic copper and zinc content of early third-century sestertii remained high, these pieces continued to circulate for several decades after the downfall of the regime. Archaeological deposits and hoard evidence from the mid-third century show Macrinus sestertii circulating alongside bronze coins of the Severans, Gordian III, and Philip I, often showing pronounced wear and edge chipping. The damnatio memoriae directed against Macrinus following the accession of Elagabalus in June AD 218 led to the official destruction of statues and imperial inscriptions, but everyday bronze currency was generally spared systematic demonetization due to the persistent economic demand for high-value fractional cash.

References

1. I grandi bronzi imperiali: Vol. IV-1 (Macrino - Diadumeniano). pp. 12-18
2. The Chronology of the Reign of Macrinus (Numismatic Chronicle 139). pp. 21-40
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Macrinus 141c. ric.4.mcs.141c
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. pp. 14-22, no. 141c