The Fabled Legio XIV Gemina Martia Victrix

Triton XIX, Lot: 592. Estimate $50000. Sold for $70000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Septimius Severus. AD 193-211. AV Aureus (20mm, 7.14 g, 12h). Rome mint. Struck AD 193. IMP CAE • L • SEP SEV PERT AVG, laureate bust right / LEG XIIII • GEM • M • V •, TR P COS in exergue, legionary aquila between two signa; forepart of capricorn on the shaft of each signum. RIC IV 14; Calicó 2472a; Biaggi 1073; BMCRE 18. Choice EF, lustrous. Well centered on a broad flan. Very rare, only three examples of two varieties in CoinArchives.

This very rare and important aureus is one of only four recorded gold types in the extensive ‘legionary’ series issued by Severus at the very outset of his reign. According to Dio Cassius (XLVI, 46, 7), he paid an accession donative of 250 denarii (ten aurei) per man and in all likelihood the legionary coinage was specially struck for this purpose. Legio XIV Gemina Martia Victrix received special honors from the new emperor as he had been the commander of this unit at the time of his elevation to imperial status. Originally formed by Octavian, this legion had participated in the invasion and conquest of Britain under Claudius and had gained its additional epithet of Martia Victrix for the vital role that it played in the defeat of the Icenian revolt led by Boudicca in 60 AD