Sale: Triton VII, Lot: 1018. Estimate $15000.  Closing Date: Monday, 12 January 2004.  Sold For $13000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PACATIAN. 248-249 AD. AR Antoninianus (4.38 gm). Viminacium mint. Dated 248 AD. IMP TI CL MAR PACATIANVS P F I(N...), radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind / ROMAE AETER AN MIL ET PRIMO, Roma seated left on shield, holding Victory with wreath, and spear. RIC IV 6 (IMP TI CL MAR PACATIANVS AVG); Hunter -; cf. Cohen 7 (same); RSC 7. Choice VF. ($15,000)

Like an aureus of Hadrian (see lot 932 above), this is only the second Roman imperial coin known to be dated by the foundation of the city of Rome. The AN MIL ET PRIMO of the reverse legend securely dates it to 248 AD, thereby providing clear evidence for when Pacatian was in revolt. Likewise, Pacatian's use of the Roma Aeterna reverse, paralleling those Philip I struck to commemorate Rome's millenial anniversary, demostrates a purposeful intent on Pacatian's part to equate his revolt with the new millenium. The presence of a clear IN (Invictus) in the obverse legend, rather than the traditional AVG or AV of his other issues, can be found in a fellow Moesian usurper, Aemilian (CIL V.530), and further reinforces the unique situation of Pacatian's usurpation. The turmoil of the lower Danube, coming as it did on the heels of Rome's millenial anniversary, prompted the Moesian troops to rebel and put forward Pacatian as an imperial candidate. Apparently a member of the senatorial class and the son of a high-ranking official, he may have beaten back an initial incursion of the Goths, earning the epithet Invictus and the admiration of his troops. Thus, seemingly armed with the cachet of an unconquered leader supported by troops who saw themselves as the true bulwark of Roman power, he was seen as the restorer of the eternal empire, a point which the parallels of this coin could not fail to make.