Pre-Long Beach Auction #80

Pertinax. Silver Denarius (3.46 g), AD 193. Rome. IMP CAES P HELV PERTIN AVG, laureate head of Pertinax right. Reverse LAETITIA TEMPOR COS II, Laetitia standing facing, head left, holding wreath and scepter. RIC 4a; BMC 8-9; RSC 20. Lovely old cabinet toning with hints of iridescense. A fantastic needle sharp portrait! An incredible example of this important raritiy and certainly one of the finest extant. Superb Extremely Fine.

Pertinax rose from humble beginnings to the highest echelons of administration, having served as a successful general and subsequently governor of several important provinces. At the time of Commodus' murder, he was Prefect of Rome. Upon his elevation on 1 January AD 193, Pertinax immediately began a series of legal and fiscal reforms, which although sound were unpopular with the corrupt officials then serving in the highest administrative posts in the Empire. This quickly led to an attempted coup, led by his co-consul Sosius Falco just two days after his accession. While the first coup was put down, a second was just beginning, and it came to a head on 28 March when the praetorians stormed the imperial palace and murdered the 66-year-old Pertinax. His reign had lasted a mere 86 days. The guardsmen paraded his decapitated head on a lance through the streets of Rome, but this heinous deed would shortly condemn them as when Septimius Severus arrived in Rome he tricked the Praetorians into assembling unarmed, then dismissed and banished the entire Guard under threat from his Illyrian troops.
Estimated Value $10,000 - 12,000.
Ex MMAG 92 (25 November 2002), 119; Sternberg XXIX (30 October 1995), 478; Bank Leu 28 (5 May 1981), 479.