Macrinus Silver Denarius RIC IV Macrinus 46

Monetary Context and Reform

The monetary environment of Macrinus's brief reign from April AD 217 to June AD 218 was shaped by deep structural tensions inherited from the Severan dynasty. Caracalla's massive military wage increases and lavish campaign expenditures had placed unprecedented strain on imperial treasuries, prompting substantial currency manipulation. Among Caracalla's monetary adjustments was the introduction in AD 215 of the antoninianus, or double denarius, alongside a reduction in the silver purity of the traditional denarius to approximately fifty percent. Upon seizing the purple in Mesopotamia, Macrinus confronted widespread economic discontent and a catastrophic budget deficit. Rather than continuing Caracalla's inflationary course, Macrinus undertook an ambitious fiscal retrenchment. Chemical and metallurgical analyses of early third-century Roman silver indicate that Macrinus suspended the regular production of the antoninianus and deliberately increased the silver content of the denarius. Denarii produced under his authority, including issues of early AD 218 such as RIC IV Macrinus 46, exhibit an improved silver purity, frequently rising to around fifty-five to fifty-eight percent fine silver, with typical weights centering between 3.0 and 3.3 grams. This reform represented a conscious attempt to restore public and senatorial confidence in Roman state credit, though it ultimately exacerbated military grievances over payment and bonuses, accelerating the mutinies that brought an end to his reign.

Production and Mint Attributions

In the standard typology established by Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham in The Roman Imperial Coinage, RIC IV Macrinus 46 is classified among the imperial issues of the mint of Rome. The Rome mint maintained long-established bureaucratic structures, die-engraving workshops, and administrative oversight under the procurator monetae. The engraving style characteristic of Rome displays polished die execution, well-proportioned lettering, and a consistent, idealized portraiture. A central problem in the numismatic study of Macrinus concerns his geographical absence from the capital. Macrinus never visited Rome during his fourteen months as emperor, remaining stationed in Antioch and northern Syria to manage the conclusion of the Parthian War and secure the eastern frontier. Because the imperial administration was divided between the traveling imperial court in Syria and the senatorial capital in Rome, scholars such as Curtis L. Clay have re-evaluated the traditional mint attributions of Macrinus's coinage. While the Rome mint undeniably produced the bulk of the imperial denarius coinage based on administrative instructions dispatched from the East, numismatists recognize that a secondary imperial operation at Antioch struck denarii with styles closely copying or directly derived from Rome's dies. Although RIC IV Macrinus 46 remains catalogued as an issue of the Rome mint, ongoing scholarship continues to analyze stylistic nuances, portrait progression, and die links between Rome and the Syrian operational centers.

Obverse Portraiture and Iconography

The obverse of RIC IV Macrinus 46 presents a right-facing bust of Macrinus wearing the imperial laurel wreath. Variations in drapery and cuirass treatment are attested across dies of this type; specimens may depict the emperor with combined drapery and cuirass viewed from the back or side, while others show slight variations in mantle placement. Numismatic portraiture under Macrinus underwent a rapid and meaningful evolution during his short principate, which is directly relevant to the obverse of this issue. The earliest coins struck in AD 217 featured a short, compact beard and facial characteristics intentionally assimilated to those of Caracalla and Septimius Severus, designed to smooth over the violent transfer of power. By early AD 218, coinciding with the assumption of his second consulship, imperial die engravers shifted to a distinct and mature realistic portrait. On denarii of the TR P II issue, Macrinus is depicted with a noticeably longer, fuller, square-cut beard and a more naturalistic, thoughtful facial expression. This later iconographic style reflected his advanced age and his background as an equestrian jurist and praetorian prefect, departing from the youthful, aggressive physiognomy favored by Caracalla.

Reverse Iconography of Securitas

The reverse of RIC IV Macrinus 46 displays Securitas, the personification of safety, internal stability, and freedom from danger. She is draped in traditional Roman stola and appears standing toward the left, her legs casually crossed at the ankles. In her right hand, she holds a long vertical sceptre, while her left arm and elbow rest securely upon a low column or cippus. The posture of Securitas is rich in allegorical meaning. In Roman imperial iconography, the crossed legs and relaxed posture against a structural column signified unshakeable permanence, total composure, and the absence of imminent peril. The sceptre underlined legitimate sovereign authority, while the column symbolized the institutional bedrock of the Roman state. For Macrinus, who occupied the throne under precarious circumstances without hereditary ties to the Severan line, the invocation of Securitas was an urgent ideological statement. It assured the populace and the senatorial elite that the turmoil following Caracalla's sudden death and the costly hostilities with Parthia had been resolved, inaugurating a period of serene imperial order.

Inscriptions and Epigraphy

The obverse inscription of RIC IV Macrinus 46 reads IMP C M OPEL SEV MACRINVS AVG, an abbreviation of Imperator Caesar Marcus Opellius Severus Macrinus Augustus. The inclusion of the cognomen Severus was a calculated political move; Macrinus adopted the prestigious dynastic name to assert symbolic continuity with the popular dynasty of Septimius Severus, despite lacking any blood kinship. The titles Imperator and Augustus framed his supreme constitutional and military authority. The reverse inscription reads PONTIF MAX TR P II COS II P P, standing for Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate II, Consul II, Pater Patriae. This epigraphic formula establishes a precise chronological benchmark for the issue. The title Pontifex Maximus identified Macrinus as the supreme pontiff of Roman state religion. TR P II records his renewal of tribunician power, while COS II marks his assumption of his second ordinary consulship on January 1, AD 218. The closing title, Pater Patriae (Father of the Fatherland), completed the full suite of classic constitutional honors voted to him by the Senate.

Typology and Chronological Sequence

RIC IV Macrinus 46 occupies a well-defined place within the chronological sequence of Macrinus's coinage. His coinage is broadly divided into issues of AD 217 (featuring TR P and COS desig.) and those of AD 218 (featuring TR P II and COS II). RIC 46 belongs squarely to the second phase, produced between January AD 218 and the emperor's defeat and execution in June AD 218. Within the broader series of AD 218, reverse types paired with the dated PONTIF MAX TR P II COS II P P legend featured a coordinated set of allegorical deities, including Annona, Fides Militum, Salus, and Securitas. The Securitas type appears in two principal variations across the reign: seated on a throne holding a sceptre, or standing leaning on a column. RIC 46 designates the standing variety holding a sceptre and leaning on a column, specifically struck in silver. While related bronze issues, including sestertii (such as RIC IV 142) and asses, share this identical iconographic composition and legend, RIC 46 strictly delineates the silver denarius denomination bearing this precise obverse and reverse combination.

Circulation, Hoards, and Deposition

Denarii of Macrinus, including RIC IV Macrinus 46, circulated widely across the frontiers and urban centers of the Roman Empire, although their brief window of production ensured they represented only a modest proportion of the circulating money supply. Because his entire reign lasted only fourteen months, specimens from his second emission in AD 218 saw limited active wear before being integrated into general hoards during the mid-third-century monetary crises. Hoard evidence throughout the western and Danubian provinces demonstrates that Macrinus's denarii circulated side by side with the vast volume of earlier Severan silver. The improved fineness of his denarii did not trigger widespread immediate withdrawal by the public, as the coins circulated according to their official face value in daily commerce. However, with the accession of Elagabalus in mid-AD 218 and the subsequent return to lowered silver fineness and renewed antoninianus minting, coins of Macrinus became attractive candidates for melting and restriking, keeping their total representation in later third-century hoards relatively low.

References

1. The Mints and Chronology of Macrinus. Numismatic Chronicle, Vol. 139 (1979), pp. 21-40
2. Coinage in the Roman Economy, 300 B.C. to A.D. 700. pp. 126-132
3. Coining Images of Power: Patterns in the Representation of Roman Emperors on Imperial Coinage, A.D. 193-284. pp. 177-184
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. pp. 5-7, 10, no. 46
5. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Macrinus 46. ric.4.mcs.46