Caracalla (198-217), aureus, Rome, 201, ANTONINVS PIVS AVG PON TR P IIII, laureate, draped and cuirassed young bust right, rev., CONCORDIAE AETERNAE, jugate busts of Septimius Severus and Julia Domna right, Severus with radiate and draped bust and Julia Domna diademed and set on a crescent moon, 7.28g (RIC 52; BMC 260; Calico 2849; C. 1), good extremely fine, very rare. Provenance: Virgil M. Brand collection, Sotheby’s Zurich, 1 July 1982, lot 40. On the reverse Septimius Severus wears the radiate crown of Sol, the sun-god, while the crescent moon under Julia Domna’s bust depicts her as Luna, the moon-goddess: he as day, she as night - and anticipating the way in which emperors and empresses were to appear on antoniniani following their introduction by Caracalla in late 214.

Estimate: GBP 25000 - 30000