Macrinus Gold Aureus RIC IV Macrinus 38b

Monetary Context and Imperial Policy

The monetary policy of Macrinus represents an anomalous attempt to restore fiscal rectitude during a period of mounting structural economic crises across the Roman Empire. Following the assassination of Caracalla near Carrhae in April 217 AD, Macrinus was elevated to the purple by the eastern legions as the first Roman emperor of equestrian rank. He inherited severe financial liabilities, notably Caracalla's massive military wage increases and the debasement of the silver denarius and antoninianus. While Macrinus took active steps to restore the silver fineness of the denarius toward pre-Caracallan Severan norms, the gold aureus remained the essential monetary anchor of high-level imperial finance, senatorial wealth storage, and military prestige payments. The production of aurei under Macrinus was far more limited than the prolific gold minting under Septimius Severus or Caracalla, reflecting restricted treasury reserves and the logistical difficulties of securing bullion in the East. RIC IV Macrinus 38b represents an official gold issue from early 218 AD designed to fulfill formal imperial protocol in the capital while presenting an image of restored balance, economic benevolence, and civic normalcy.

Mint Production and Technical Standards

Although Macrinus spent his entire reign in the East and never reached Rome in person, the mint at Rome continued operating on his behalf under the oversight of imperial monetary officials. Numismatists have traditionally differentiated the output of the Rome mint from contemporary eastern strikes produced at Antioch based on stylistic handling, portraiture modeling, and epigraphic conventions. RIC IV Macrinus 38b is securely assigned to the Rome mint, characterized by the refined classical style typical of seasoned urban die-engravers. The aureus was struck using finely engraved iron or bronze dies, with the reverse die showing deep, deliberate relief in the rendering of Annona's drapery and attributes. In terms of metrology, Macrinus maintained the gold standard established earlier in the Severan period, striking aurei at an average theoretical weight of approximately 7.2 to 7.3 grams, representing a tariff of forty-five to forty-six coins per Roman pound of pure gold. While individual surviving specimens exhibit slight manufacturing variations due to manual flan preparation and clipping, flan quality remained strictly regulated, maintaining gold fineness consistently above ninety-eight percent.

Obverse Iconography and Portraiture

The obverse of RIC IV Macrinus 38b features a right-facing bust of Macrinus depicted with a laurel wreath and military cuirass. This specific portrait variant, catalogued by Mattingly and Sydenham as variety b, is distinct from variety a, which features a laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust. The portrait reflects the established metropolitan iconographic tradition of Macrinus's later issues. Early issues struck in Rome immediately following his accession often utilized generic, stylized likenesses that resembled Caracalla or Marcus Aurelius due to the die-cutters' initial lack of an official imperial wax model or bust from the imperial court. By early 218 AD, however, the Rome mint had received authentic likenesses, producing naturalistic portraits featuring Macrinus's distinctive facial structure, close-cropped curly hair, and characteristic short square-cut beard. The cuirass serves as an explicit visual reminder of his position as imperator and supreme military commander, balancing the civil titles conveyed on the reverse with an assertive martial posture designed to project imperial authority.

Reverse Typology and Allegorical Symbolism

The reverse of the coin portrays Annona, the personification of the grain supply, seated facing left on a backless throne or stool. In her right hand she holds several ears of corn, while her left arm cradles a full cornucopiae symbolizing agricultural bounty and prosperity. At her feet stands a modius, the Roman dry-measure vessel traditionally associated with grain distribution and price stability. Annona was a venerable motif in Roman imperial numismatics, frequently deployed by newly elevated emperors to assure the urban populace of Rome that the vital grain imports from Egypt and North Africa remained secure and well-managed under the new regime. In the fraught context of 218 AD, when Macrinus faced whispers regarding his non-senatorial origins and absence from the capital, invoking Annona was an effective ideological mechanism to signal benevolent civil governance, senatorial cooperation, and the sustained nourishment of the Roman citizenry.

Epigraphy and Titulature Analysis

The legends on RIC IV Macrinus 38b provide essential chronological and legal data regarding Macrinus's tenure. The obverse inscription reads IMP C M OPEL SEV MACRINVS AVG, an abbreviated form of Imperator Caesar Marcus Opellius Severus Macrinus Augustus. Here, the adoption of the name Severus links Macrinus titularly to the dynasty of Septimius Severus, creating an illusion of dynastic succession to ease political friction. The reverse legend, PONTIF MAX TR P II COS II P P, records his highest religious and constitutional dignities: Pontifex Maximus, holder of the Tribunician Power for the second time, Consul for the second time, and Pater Patriae. The epigraphy is neatly executed with regular lettering, typical of the Rome mint. The presence of both TR P II and COS II provides a decisive chronological benchmark: Macrinus entered his second consulship on January 1, 218 AD, establishing that this coin could only have been issued between the start of 218 AD and the end of his reign in June of that year.

Typological Classification and Chronological Placement

Within the system of Roman Imperial Coinage, type 38 is divided into sub-varieties based on drapery and cuirass arrangements: 38a exhibits a draped and cuirassed bust, whereas 38b exhibits a purely cuirassed bust. This typological distinction highlights the minute variations tracked by 20th-century cataloguers to document die production sequences in urban workshops. Chronologically, RIC IV Macrinus 38b belongs strictly to the first half of 218 AD, following Macrinus's renewal of tribunician power and assumption of the ordinary consulship with Marcus Oclatinius Adventus. The type forms part of a cohesive series of administrative issues struck in Rome that also included seated representations of Fides Militum, Salus, and Felicitas. The issue ended abruptly in June 218 AD when Macrinus was defeated near Antioch by the troops supporting Elagabalus, resulting in his execution and the immediate cessation of his coinage at both Rome and eastern facilities.

Circulation, Hoard Evidence, and Modern Survival

Gold aurei of Macrinus did not circulate in the high volumes seen in earlier periods of the Principate. Given the extremely brief duration of his reign, spanning only fourteen months, and the focused production run of his second consular issues in early 218 AD, the total original mintage of RIC IV Macrinus 38b was modest. Following Macrinus's overthrow and subsequent damnatio memoriae in some contexts, significant quantities of his gold coinage were recalled, melted down, or re-struck by the administration of Elagabalus. Surviving aurei of this type are rarely found in everyday domestic site contexts; instead, they appear almost exclusively in large concealed hoards or isolated elite deposits across the western and central Mediterranean provinces. Today, specimens of RIC IV Macrinus 38b are preserved predominantly in major institutional numismatic cabinets, with very few examples appearing in published private collections, making it an important diagnostic type for late Severan gold series.

References

1. The Roman Aurei: An Exhaustive Evaluation of the Roman Gold Coinage, Volume II. no. 2963
2. Description historique des monnaies frappées sous l'Empire romain, Tome IV. p. 296, no. 46
3. Coinage in the Roman Economy, 300 B.C. to A.D. 700. pp. 125-132
4. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume V: Pertinax to Elagabalus. pp. 498-502
5. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Macrinus 38b. ric.4.mcs.38b
6. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. p. 8, no. 38b