Extremely Rare Dynastic Aureus for Geta

CNG 111, Lot: 765. Estimate $20000. Sold for $30000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Geta, with Septimius Severus and Julia Domna. As Caesar, AD 198-209. AV Aureus (19mm, 7.46 g, 12h). Dynastic issue. Rome mint. Struck under Septimius Severus and Caracalla, AD 200-205. P SEPT GETA CAES PONT, bareheaded, draped, and cuirassed bust right / CONCORDIAE AETERNAE, jugate busts right of Septimius Severus, radiate and draped, and Julia Domna, draped, wearing stephane set on crescent. RIC IV 7b; Calicó 2927 (same dies as illustration); BMCRE p. 196, note *; Biaggi 1244 (same dies); Jameson 200 (same dies); Mazzini pl. XLIII, manca (same dies); Ars Classica XV, lot 1754 (same dies); Hirsch 258, lot 2614 (same dies). Near EF. Extremely rare.

Ex Phil Peck (“Morris”) Collection.

Born in March, AD 189 to Severus and his wife Julia Domna, Publius Septimius Geta was only 11 months younger than his brother and was said to closely resemble his father’s coloring and temperament. After Caracalla was named co-Augustus with his father in AD 198, Geta was made Caesar, or junior emperor, unintentionally highlighting his second-class status within the dynastic hierarchy. This perhaps contributed to an intense sibling rivalry between Geta and Caracalla, which, after the boys reached their teens, threatened to tear the family and indeed the empire apart. Despite dynastic propaganda, which portrayed a close-knit ruling family, including this rare aureus depicting the young Geta with his parents, each brother cultivated a circle of friends and sycophants, which quickly turned into armed gangs that frequently clashed in the streets of Rome.