Macrinus Silver Denarius, RIC IV Macrinus 39b

Monetary and Political Context

The monetary system under Marcus Opellius Macrinus operated within the fiscal constraints inherited from the Severan dynasty. Following the assassination of Caracalla near Carrhae in April AD 217, Macrinus assumed the purple amid profound fiscal distress. Caracalla had raised military pay and introduced the double-denarius (antoninianus) while debasing the standard denarius. Macrinus made initial attempts to stabilize Roman currency by discontinuing the production of the newly introduced antoninianus and seeking to steady the intrinsic value of the silver denarius. The issue catalogued as RIC IV Macrinus 39b belongs to this reformatory yet beleaguered monetary environment. Struck at a theoretical standard close to 3.10 to 3.30 grams, the denarius under Macrinus maintained a silver fineness hovering between 50 and 55 percent, consistent with the Severan debasement trajectory outlined in modern compositional analyses. While Macrinus sought to roll back some of Caracalla's extravagant monetary expansions, the financial pressures of securing military loyalty and funding operations against the Parthians prevented any substantial restoration of pre-Severan purity. In the broader monetary circulation of AD 218, silver denarii remained the workhorse denomination of the empire, serving both administrative transfers and market transactions throughout the provinces and Italy.

Mint Organization and Production

Although Macrinus spent his entire reign in the eastern provinces, never visiting the imperial capital as emperor, the primary administrative mint in Rome continued full-scale production of gold, silver, and bronze coinage in his name. RIC IV Macrinus 39b was struck exclusively at Rome, using official senatorial and imperial titles authorized by decree from afar. The mint in Rome was organized into distinct officinae (workshops), which shared the responsibility of turning out massive quantities of regular imperial silver under standard ministerial supervision. Die engraving at the Rome mint during this period retained high artistic standards, executing refined imperial portraits and neatly balanced allegorical figures. The production process relied on hand-engraved iron or bronze dies striking heated silver planchets between lower anvil dies and upper punch dies. Specimens of RIC IV Macrinus 39b exhibit the typical fabric of early third-century Roman issues, featuring regular circular contours, moderate flan thickness, and characteristic die-axis alignment, predominantly oriented near twelve o'clock or six o'clock as was standard practice in the metropolitan mint.

Obverse Iconography and Portrait Typology

The obverse of RIC IV Macrinus 39b presents a right-facing bust of the emperor wearing a laurel wreath and imperial cuirass. The distinctive feature distinguishing subtype 39b from its counterpart 39a lies in the rendering of the imperial beard. While early issues of Macrinus in AD 217 portray him with a short, cropped military beard resembling that of Caracalla, later strikings, particularly those associated with his second tribunician year and second consulship in AD 218, present him with an elongated, fuller beard. Numismatists have recognized this transition as a deliberate iconographic shift. The lengthened beard consciously evoked the philosophical dignity of the Antonine emperors, especially Marcus Aurelius and Septimius Severus, whose legacy Macrinus sought to claim. The cuirassed bust underscores his military imperium, an essential reassurance for a ruler whose authority depended directly upon the goodwill of the legions. The engraving conveys a mature, thoughtful portrait with heavy brows, deep-set eyes, and formal drapery over the protective cuirass.

Reverse Iconography: Annona and Imperial Beneficence

The reverse of the type features the allegorical figure of Annona, the divine personification of the grain supply, seated facing left. She is draped in traditional stola and palla, seated comfortably on a low-backed throne or curule stool. In her right hand, extended forward, she holds two ears of wheat or corn, while cradling a cornucopiae laden with fruits in her left arm. At her feet to the left rests a modius, a standard Roman dry-measure vessel filled with harvested grain stalks. This iconography belongs to a longstanding imperial repertoire designed to project abundance, security, and meticulous imperial stewardship of the city of Rome's essential food supply (cura annonae). For an emperor ruling entirely from Syria, reassuring the urban populace and the Senate of Rome that grain shipments and distributions remained unimpeded was vital. The presence of the modius directly connects the abstract concept of divine bounty with the physical infrastructure of urban grain distribution, conveying an explicit message of domestic peace and reliable imperial oversight.

Epigraphic Evidence and Titulature

The obverse legend on RIC IV Macrinus 39b reads IMP C M OPEL SEV MACRINVS AVG. This string expands to 'Imperator Caesar Marcus Opellius Severus Macrinus Augustus.' Notably, Macrinus incorporated the prestigious cognomen 'Severus' into his official titulature shortly after his accession, attempting to bind his equestrian lineage to the reigning memory of the Severan dynasty. The inclusion of the traditional praenomen imperii (IMP) and the titles CAESAR and AVGVSTVS signaled complete constitutional power recognized by the Roman Senate. The reverse legend is recorded as PONTIF MAX TR P II COS II P P, expanding to 'Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate Secundum, Consul Secundum, Pater Patriae.' This comprehensive titular sequence documents Macrinus's supreme religious authority as high priest, his renewal of tribunician power for a second term, his second consulship, and his title as father of his country. The formula reflects the standard metropolitan titulature adopted after January 1, AD 218, leaving no ambiguity regarding the state-sanctioned nature of the coinage.

Typology and Chronological Classification

RIC IV Macrinus 39b occupies a precise chronological position within Macrinus's brief numismatic sequence. In Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham's standard catalogue, Roman Imperial Coinage, type 39 is divided according to portrait characteristics: 39a features a short beard, representing the earliest phase of this reverse pairing, whereas 39b exhibits the long beard characteristic of the second phase. The presence of 'COS II' on the reverse securely dates the striking of this variant to the period between Macrinus's entry into his second consulship on January 1, AD 218, and his overthrow by the forces supporting Elagabalus in June AD 218. Scholars such as Curtis L. Clay have refined the chronological sequencing of Macrinus's coinage, demonstrating that portrait types evolved progressively across his three officina-distributed issues. The reverse type of Annona seated with modius was paired with both early and late obverse dies, but specimens bearing the long-bearded cuirassed bust represent the definitive mature output of the Rome mint in the spring of AD 218, shortly before news of the rebellion at Emesa disrupted regular administration.

Circulation, Hoard Evidence, and Survival

Because Macrinus ruled for only fourteen months, his total monetary output was modest in comparison to the massive coinages of Septimius Severus and Caracalla. Denarii of RIC IV Macrinus 39b circulated alongside Severan predecessors across the Western and Danubian provinces, as attested by findspots in imperial military garrisons and urban centers. Following Macrinus's defeat, the regime of Elagabalus did not officially demonetize his silver, allowing his denarii to remain in circulation until the widespread recoinages of the mid-third century AD. In major hoard deposits from Britain, Gaul, and the Rhine frontier, such as the Reka Devnia hoard from Marcianopolis, Macrinus's denarii appear in relatively small numbers, typically representing less than one to two percent of the total Severan-era silver recovered. The preservation of RIC IV Macrinus 39b across institutional and private cabinets demonstrates that while the issue had a narrow window of production, it achieved wide distribution through imperial administrative disbursements to state officials and military personnel stationed across the empire.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume V: Pertinax to Elagabalus. pp. 504-506
2. The Roman Coinage of Macrinus and Diadumenian, Numismatische Zeitschrift 93. pp. 21-40
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Macrinus 39b. ric.4.mcs.39b
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. p. 9, no. 39b