207, Lot: 380. Estimate $150. Sold for $365. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Caracalla. AD 198-217. AR Denarius (18mm, 3.22 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 207. Laureate head right / Emperor standing facing, head right, holding spear and parazonium; two river gods reclining to right and left, holding reeds, seated female (Britannia?) at feet of emperor. RIC IV 96; RSC 441. Near EF, toned.

Caracalla was in Britain in AD 206-207 overseeing campaigns against the northern tribes and restoring the crumbling fortifications of Hadrian's Wall. This coin most likely marks these events. The descriptions of the reverse in both RIC and BMCRE are inaccurate; the two outer figures are clearly bearded river gods, holding reeds. They likely represent the rivers Eden and Tyne, which Hadrian's Wall follows for much of its length. The seated female figure under the protection of the emperor must logically be Britannia.