Pertinax Silver Denarius RIC IV Pertinax 4A

Monetary Reform and Historical Context

The emission of RIC IV Pertinax 4A occurred during the turbulent opening months of 193 AD, a watershed interval known historically as the Year of the Five Emperors. Following the murder of Commodus on New Year's Eve 192 AD, Pertinax assumed the purple amid acute fiscal strain and administrative disarray. Modern metallographic and metrological analyses, particularly those synthesized by Kevin Butcher and Matthew Ponting, confirm that Pertinax implemented a swift and significant monetary reform. While Commodus had reduced the fineness of the silver denarius to approximately seventy-four percent silver with average weights declining toward 3.0 grams, Pertinax deliberately elevated the standard. The silver content was raised back toward eighty-seven percent, echoing the higher standards of earlier Antonine rulers. This conscious restorative effort was designed to re-establish trust among senatorial elites, provincial merchants, and the legions. However, the high silver content also strained the imperial treasury to meet promised military donatives, which ultimately contributed to the disaffection of the Praetorian Guard.

Mint Organization and Production Standards

All official specimens of RIC IV Pertinax 4A were produced at the central mint in Rome. With the provincial minting apparatus not yet decentralized to the degree seen later under Septimius Severus and his rivals, Rome held a practical monopoly on regular silver denarius issues during early 193 AD. Die studies and stylistic assessments show that the Rome mint mobilized quickly in January 193 AD, adapting dies with extraordinary skill to render the new emperor's mature, bearded profile. The weight standard for this issue targeted an average near 3.25 to 3.35 grams, visibly heavier and more tightly controlled than the preceding late issues of Commodus. Die alignment for the denarii of this series generally adhered to an upright or near-upright vertical axis (12 o'clock or 6 o'clock), conforming to the customary technical discipline of the capital's officinae. Production ceased abruptly following the assassination of Pertinax on March 28, 193 AD, rendering the entire production window to approximately eighty-seven days.

Obverse Portraiture and Ideology

The obverse of RIC IV Pertinax 4A displays the laureate head of Pertinax facing right. The engraving captures a realistic, veristic portrait of an elderly statesman and military commander in his mid-sixties, characterized by a thick, closely cropped beard, furrowed brow, prominent nose, and deeply set eyes. This stylistic presentation marked a decisive departure from the smooth, heroic, and increasingly eccentric divine representations favored in the final years of Commodus. By employing traditional senatorial portrait conventions reminiscent of the High Empire, the Rome mint promoted Pertinax as a virtuous, restrained, and seasoned restorer of constitutional order. The laurel wreath rests securely around the head with ties hanging downward behind the neck, serving as an emblem of imperial victory and civic authority.

Reverse Iconography and Symbolism

The reverse design of RIC IV Pertinax 4A depicts Laetitia, the personification of joyful celebration and shared happiness, draped in a traditional stola and standing left. In her extended right hand, she holds an upright wreath, an ancient symbol of celebration, triumph, and festival joy. In her left hand, she supports a long vertical sceptre whose base is firmly planted on a globe. The globe at the base of the sceptre is a deliberate political symbol indicating that the happiness and order announced by the regime were universal, encompassing the entirety of the Roman world (orbis terrarum). Rather than commemorating a specific military victory, the Laetitia type proclaimed a psychological and ideological renewal, assuring citizens and provincials alike that the despotic atmosphere of Commodus's final years had been supplanted by an era of peace, generosity, and public felicity.

Epigraphic Analysis and Titulature

The obverse inscription reads IMP CAES P HELV PERTIN AVG, transcribing in full as Imperator Caesar Publius Helvius Pertinax Augustus. The titulature is direct and standard for an imperial inauguration, invoking the traditional military imperium alongside the venerable imperial names Caesar and Augustus, while clearly displaying the emperor's gentilicium (Helvius) and cognomen (Pertinax). The reverse legend is LAETITIA TEMPOR COS II, expanding to Laetitia Temporum, Consul Secundum, translating to 'The Happiness of the Times, Consul for the Second Time.' Pertinax had previously served his first ordinary consulship in 175 AD and took up his second consulship on January 1, 193 AD, exactly coinciding with his accession. The presence of COS II serves as a vital chronological anchor, proving that the coinage was produced wholly within his brief second consulship in early 193 AD. Lettering is executed in balanced, classical capitalis monumentalis consistent with late Antonine mint traditions.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the cataloguing framework of Roman Imperial Coinage, RIC IV Pertinax 4A is distinguished by its specific reverse legend and iconographic combination. While neighboring catalogue varieties feature related personifications such as Aequitas, Ops, Providentia, or alternative formulations of Laetitia, type 4A is defined by the legend LAETITIA TEMPOR COS II accompanying Laetitia with wreath and sceptre on globe. Die linkages identified in numismatic literature demonstrate that obverse dies for type 4A were shared with other reverse types celebrating peace (PAX) and divine providence (PROVIDENTIA DEORVM), indicating simultaneous production across multiple workshops within the Rome mint rather than a strict sequential progression. The entire series was executed between the early days of January and late March 193 AD, representing a tightly clustered, single-phase emission.

Hoard Evidence and Monetary Circulation

Despite the tiny temporal window of its manufacture, RIC IV Pertinax 4A entered general circulation and travelled widely across the western and eastern provinces. Because of its superior silver purity relative to both Commodian issues and the subsequent severely debased denarii of Septimius Severus, specimens of Pertinax were subject to the operation of Gresham's Law. Although many were hoarded or subsequently melted down for recoinage under the Severan dynasty, a noticeable fraction survived in mixed third-century hoards across Britannia, Gaul, and the Rhine frontier, such as the Shapwick and Dorchester deposits. In these contexts, coins of type 4A typically display moderate to significant wear, reflecting decades of active hand-to-hand transactions alongside older Antonine silver before final deposition.

References

1. The Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage: From the Reform of Nero to the Reform of Trajan Decius. pp. 581-587
2. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part I: Pertinax to Geta. pp. 3-8
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Pertinax 4A. RIC IV Pertinax 4A