115, Lot: 431. Estimate $200. Sold for $136. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CARACALLA. 198-217 AD. AR Denarius (18mm, 3.41 gm). Struck 207 AD. Laureate head right / Caracalla standing facing, head right, holding spear and parazonium; two river gods reclining to right and left, holding reeds, seated captive at feet of emperor. RIC IV 96; RSC 441. VF, toned. Rare commemoration of Caracalla's campaigns in northern Britain near Hadrian's Wall.

Ex Marc Melcher Collection.

In 206-207 AD, Caracalla was in Britain, overseeing campaigns against the northern tribes and restoring the crumbling fortifications of Hadrian's Wall. This coin most likely marks these events. The descriptions of the reverse in both RIC and BMCRE are inaccurate; the two outer figures are clearly river gods-bearded, half-draped men holding river reeds. They probably represent the rivers Eden and Tyne, which Hadrian's Wall follows for much of its length. The seated figure under the emperor appears in the traditional state of mourning, and must represent a captive (a Pict?).