Macrinus Silver Denarius RIC IV Macrinus 32b

Monetary Context and Imperial Policy

The ascension of Marcus Opellius Macrinus in April AD 217 marked the first time an eques rather than a senator attained the imperial office. His short reign of fourteen months occurred against a backdrop of deep structural distress in the Roman fiscal system. Caracalla had expanded military pay to unprecedented heights and introduced the double denarius (antoninianus) in AD 215, which effectively lowered the intrinsic silver content of imperial payouts. Macrinus encountered treasury exhaustion combined with the demands of the eastern military campaign against Parthia. To restore administrative confidence among conservative elements in the Roman Senate, Macrinus halted regular production of the antoninianus and temporarily upgraded the weight standard and silver fineness of the traditional denarius. Under Macrinus, denarii were struck to an adjusted standard approaching fifty-five percent silver, an improvement compared to the degraded late issues of Caracalla. This fiscal retrenchment sought to re-establish monetary credibility while managing state expenditures. Denarii such as RIC IV Macrinus 32b served as the standard transactional currency for administrative salaries, legionary donatives, and state commerce across the Roman Mediterranean.

Mint Production and Workshop Operations

The type RIC IV Macrinus 32b was struck at the imperial mint in Rome, which operated continuously even while Macrinus remained in the eastern provinces. Scholars such as Harold Mattingly and modern numismatic researchers have recognized that the Roman mint maintained multiple functioning workshops (officinae) dedicated to striking precious metal issues for the new emperor. Although early 20th-century studies occasionally debated whether an eastern mint such as Antioch produced Latin denarii alongside provincial tetradrachms, stylistic and hoard analysis confirms that the substantive series of denarii carrying standard senatorial titles, including RIC IV 32b, originated at the capital. Dies were carved by experienced Roman engravers working from imperial portrait models sent westward from Syria. Production was conducted using hand-carved bronze or iron dies striking heated silver flans within an upper and lower die assemblage. The resulting planchets exhibit irregular round shapes, with alignment varying according to typical imperial loose-die striking methods.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Portraiture

The obverse of RIC IV Macrinus 32b displays a right-facing bust of the emperor wearing a laurel wreath and military cuirass. A key distinguishing typological feature of this specific catalog number is the treatment of Macrinus's facial hair. Early issues from the Rome mint in the spring of AD 217 portrayed Macrinus with a trimmed, short beard, largely reflecting early imperial dies executed before updated likenesses arrived from the East. By late AD 217, the engravers adopted a second portrait style characterized by a visibly elongated, bushy beard. The long-bearded bust seen on RIC IV 32b conforms to this mature portrait phase. The laureate wreath signifies imperial victory and divine sanction, while the cuirass (lorica) emphasizes his position as supreme military commander (imperator). Engraving across this issue is executed in the crisp, classical style characteristic of the Rome mint workshops during the late Severan era, capturing distinctive facial features including a furrowed brow and prominent nose.

Reverse Iconography and Political Ideology

The reverse of the coin presents the personification of Felicitas standing draped and facing left. In her right hand she extends a tall caduceus, the traditional herald's staff representing peace, harmony, and commercial prosperity. In her left arm she cradles a cornucopiae, the horn of plenty brimming with fruits and agricultural abundance. In imperial ideology, Felicitas embodied the temporal and spiritual happiness of the Roman state under the protection of the reigning emperor. The inclusion of Felicitas on issues dated late in AD 217 served a specific propagandistic function: after the sudden assassination of Caracalla and subsequent costly negotiations with the Parthian king Artabanus IV, the imperial administration wished to reassure citizens and soldiers alike that stability, peace, and abundance had been restored under Macrinus's guidance.

Epigraphy and Titulature

The legends of RIC IV Macrinus 32b provide precise chronological and epigraphic evidence for the administration of Macrinus. The obverse legend reads IMP C M OPEL SEV MACRINVS AVG, expanding to Imperator Caesar Marcus Opellius Severus Macrinus Augustus. The inclusion of the cognomen Severus represents a calculated dynastic claim, associating the new non-senatorial ruler with the deceased Septimius Severus to secure broader loyalty among the armies. The reverse legend reads PONTIF MAX TR P II COS P P, expanding to Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate II, Consul, Pater Patriae. The formula proclaims Macrinus as supreme pontiff, holder of tribunician power for the second time, consul, and father of the fatherland. Lettering is rendered in clean, monumental Latin capitals, arranged radially around the inner beaded border of the coin.

Typology and Chronological Classification

RIC IV Macrinus 32b belongs to a specific chronological transition occurring in the final weeks of AD 217. Macrinus had assumed tribunician power (TR P) upon his accession in April AD 217. In traditional Roman imperial practice, tribunician renewal could occur either on the accession anniversary or on the traditional senatorial calendar date of December 10. The designation TR P II on this type indicates that the Rome mint recognized his second tribunician term late in AD 217. Concurrently, the reverse notes COS rather than COS II, because Macrinus's formal inauguration as consul ordinarius for the year AD 218 did not take effect until January 1, AD 218. Therefore, denarii bearing the formula TR P II COS were struck during a narrow window between December AD 217 and early January AD 218. Within the standard cataloging established by Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham in Roman Imperial Coinage, type 32 is divided by bust variant: RIC 32a features a short beard, whereas RIC 32b specifically designates the long-bearded, cuirassed bust.

Circulation Patterns and Hoard Evidence

Denarii of Macrinus had a relatively brief initial circulation span before political upheaval once again reshuffled the currency pool. Following Macrinus's defeat at the Battle of Antioch in June AD 218 and the accession of Elagabalus, official mint production of Macrinus's types ceased entirely. While Macrinus's memory was officially condemned by the Senate through damnatio memoriae, his silver coinage was not universally melted immediately. Instead, because of its relatively high silver fineness compared to late Antonine and late Severan strikings, Macrinus's denarii circulated alongside earlier issues in military camps along the Rhine and Danube frontiers and within hoards discovered in Britannia, Gaul, and the Balkans. Over subsequent decades, however, these pieces were progressively culled and melted during the debasements of the mid-third century AD, leaving well-preserved specimens of specific subtypes such as RIC IV 32b relatively scarce in the modern archaeological record.

References

1. Coin Hoards and Hoarding in the Roman Empire. pp. 82-95
2. The Coinage of Macrinus and Diadumenian. pp. 21-34
3. Roman Coins from the Earliest Times to the Fall of the Western Empire. pp. 128-132
4. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Macrinus 32b. ric.4.mcs.32b
5. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. pp. 5-7, 10, no. 32b