Sale: CNG 67, Lot: 1750. Estimate $2000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 22 September 2004.  Sold For $2500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CARUS. 282-283 AD. "Double" Antoninianus (4.56 gm). Siscia mint. Struck November 282 AD. DEO ET DOMINO CARO INVIC AVG, bust of Sol, radiate and draped, vis à vis bust of Carus, radiate and cuirassed / FELICITA-S REIPVBLICAE, Felicitas standing left, leaning on column, holding caduceus and transverse sceptre; •X•I•I•. RIC V 99; Pink VI/2, pg. 42; Venèra -; PCR 1063; Hunter pg. clvii, note 3; Cohen 28. VF, well-struck and centered, light roughness. Extremely rare. ($2000)

The extraordinary title Deo et Domino ("to the lord and god") first appeared on coinage during Aurelian's reign. The fact that Aurelian was looked at in a divine light during his lifetime was wholly acceptable to the general Roman populace given the apparent "superhuman" feats he was accomplishing in revitalizing and recovering the empire, after nearly forty years of constant turmoil. It was also Aurelian who established the worship of Sol Invictus at Rome, not to supplant the other gods, but as a new cult added to the many already existing. As the patron god of the military, Aurelian obviously promoted this new god as his own patron, and the two were closely associated on the coinage. After Aurelian's death, the cult continued to flourish, with the result of Sol supplanting Jupiter as the typical god associated with the person of the emperor. This particular coin, with its early appearance in the issues of Carus, obviously announce his personal association with Sol as his patron and parallel among the gods. The propaganda value lies in its reassurance to the public that Carus was going to be successful, like Aurelian, with Sol's divine help. It is also a dual-portrait type that is an obvious reflection of the dynastic issues of the Severans, with Sol in the senior position of Septimius and Carus in the junior position of Severus' sons (or wife).

Equally interesting, there has been an ongoing discussion about the meaning of the mintmark on this coin, which numismatists have linked to the equally enigmatic XI and KA (the Greek version of XI). As XXI is the standard form and believed to relate to the denomination, it is believed that these other marks also relate to the denomination, as all are heavier in weight than the typical antoninianus. Although their weights are not double that of antoniniani, an issue with a double radiate crown (under Carus; in the BM, see PCR 1037) led to the early conclusion that a double value was to be observed in the marketplace. Although this theory is not agreed upon by all numismatists, the nomenclature of "double antoninianus" is still used for these coins today.