Divus Nigrinian (died AD 284). BI antoninianus (23mm, 4.32 gm, 5h). NGC AU 5/5 - 4/5, Silvering. Rome, AD 284-285. DIVO NIGRINIANO, radiate, nude half-length bust of Nigrinian shown 3/4 from front, head right, right shoulder raised / CONSECRATIO, eagle standing facing, wings spread, head left; KAA in exergue. RIC V.II 472. Mottled green over silver patina. From the Morris Collection. Rare coins bearing a youthful male portrait with the inscription DIVO NIGRINIANO have long puzzled numismatists and historians, who could find no mention of any prince of this name in the historical sources. The discovery in the early 1900s of an inscription naming Nigrinian as a grandson of the Emperor Carus (AD 282-283) narrowed down the possibilities to Carus' two sons, Carinus or Numerian, both of whom ruled jointly with their father and by themselves after his death. Given that Nigrinian's posthumous coinage is confined to the Rome mint, it seems the most likely candidate for his father is Carinus, who presided over the West from Rome, while Numerian's brief reign was spent in the East.

HID99912102018