Unique Design in Roman Coinage
Bird’s-Eye View of the Decursio

CNG 108, Lot: 653. Estimate $1000. Sold for $7500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Geta. As Caesar, AD 198-209. Æ Dupondius or As (25mm, 9.57 g, 12h). Rome mint. Struck under Septimius Severus, circa AD 205. GETA CAES PONTIFEX, bare headed and cuirassed bust right, breastplate adorned with aegis / PRINC IVVENT COS, two horsemen galloping left above three horsemen galloping right; S C in exergue. RIC IV 131; BMCRE p. 337, ‡ = Cohen 169. VF, rough green patina, gently smoothed on cheek and neck. Medallic portrait. Extremely rare, possibly the second known (the other in Paris) and a unique type in all Roman coinage.

The reverse of this highly interesting issue depicts a military exercise known as the decursio. Although coins of Nero also depicts the drill, these earlier issues render this event from the ground level. The closest surviving artistic parallels for the Geta type are the well-known scenes of a decursio from the base of the Column of Antoninus Pius, which employ a similar bird’s-eye view.