Geta caesar, 198 – 209
Aureus 209, AV 21 mm, 7.18 g. P SEPTIMIVS – GETA CAES Bare headed, draped and cuirassed bust r. Rev. PONT – I – F COS II Female figure standing to front, head r., holding sceptre in r. hand and drawing out fold of dress with l.; in front of her, two small figures raising hands. C 112 var. (bare head). BMC 585 note. RIC 60c. Calicó 2899 (these dies). Very rare. A gentle portrait of fine stye. About extremely fine / extremely fine

Ex Lanz sale 112, 2002, 694.

The titulature on this beautiful gold aureus as well as the absence of a laurel wreath on the portrait show that it was struck in AD 209, sometime before the autumn. In the fall of that year, Geta was made Augustus, co-emperor alongside his father Septimius Severus and his older brother Caracalla. Here he still only has the title of Caesar. Caracalla had been named Augustus already in AD 197 and the disparity in power created a deep rift of jealousy and hatred between the brothers. This was not healed in AD 209 when Geta was made equal to Caracalla despite their differences in age. The relationship between the brothers became so strained that they required the mediation of their mother, Julia Domna, while Severus was alive. After Severus died in AD 211, Geta lived less than a year more before he was murdered by his brother. The portrait on this coin is absolutely wonderful in terms of both detail and the quality of the engraving. Like several other Severan-period aurei in this sale it represents the high point of die engraving at the end of the second and the beginning of the third century AD. This particular type reflects a change in the depiction of Geta on the coinage. Up until c. AD 208 it was usual to show him as a beardless youth on the imperial coinage, but here he looks like a rugged young man armoured for war and wearing the curly beginnings of a campaign beard-a style that was also used for Caracalla. As such, Geta is now presented as a worthy successor for the ageing Septimius Severus. On some later issues the campaign beard becomes much fuller to emphasise Geta as a potential second Severus. The reverse type is usually described as Pietas with two small children, perhaps alluding to the office of pontifex included in Geta's titulature on the reverse. However, the two children have also suggested Fecunditas to some scholars. The female personification has even raised the possibility that the type could be read as Julia Domna and her two sons, continuing the false theme of dynastic security and harmony that was so popular on coins of the Severan family.