Appealing Macrinus Antoninianus
Macrinus. AD 217-218. AR Antoninianus (23mm, 5.09 g, 6h). Rome mint, 2nd officina. 1st emission, AD 217. Radiate and draped bust right / Fides standing left, between two signa, holding two more signa, one in each hand. RIC IV 9 corr. (not cuirassed); Clay Issue 1; RSC 145a. Appealing light-golden iridescent tone. EF.
The radiate silver coin now widely known as the Antoninianus was introduced circa AD 215 by Caracalla (whose official name was Antoninus). Weighing 1.5 times the denarius of the time, it was tariffed at two denarii and hence was an expedient to stretch the silver supply. Its issue continued into the reigns of his immediate successor Macrinus, who struck it in relatively small numbers, and Elagabalus, who issued it more widely, but was discontinued by Severus Alexander as part of his monetary reforms to restore a sound currency. Although inherently inflationary, there is little evidence that the new denomination added much to the inflationary spiral until it was reintroduced in circa AD 238 in numbers large enough to drive the venerable silver denarius out of circulation.
