Carausius. Romano-British Emperor, AD 286-293. AR Denarius (18.5mm, 4.13 g, 6h). ‘RSR’ mint. Struck circa AD 286-287/88. Good VF.

CNG Feature Auction 133
Lot: 599. Estimated: $ 1 500

Roman Imperial, Coin-in-Hand Video, Silver

Sold For $ 12 000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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Carausius. Romano-British Emperor, AD 286-293. AR Denarius (18.5mm, 4.13 g, 6h). ‘RSR’ mint. Struck circa AD 286-287/88. IMP CARAVSIVS P F AVG, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / RENOVAT ROMANV, She-wolf standing right, head facing, suckling the twins (Romulus and Remus); RSR. RIC V.5 119 corr. (this coin; incorrect illustration on pl. 6); Shiel –; RSC –. Toned, minor marks. Good VF. Unique. The only example cited in RIC V.5. This coin’s illustration on pl. 6 has been corrected in a forthcoming errata to RIC V.5.

From the Chris Bailey Collection, purchased 17 October 1997. Found at St. Albans, Theatre Field.

Sir Arthur Evans suggested in 1928 that the ‘RSR’ mark in the exergue “[can] be explained as R[ationalis], S[ummae] R[ei] rather than a local mint mark” (as cited in Shiel 1977). Shiel followed Evans’ explanation and suggested that “one would expect to find such an officer based at the administrative centre of the area concerned, in this case London, and so the denarii ... must have been produced there also” (Shiel, 98).

Alternatively, Guy de la Bédoyère proposed a more literary explanation for the three letters in his article "Carausius and the Marks RSR and I.N.P.C.D.A." in NC 1998. His explanation draws upon the enigmatic letters INPCDA found on a pair of large bronze Carausius medallions and extrapolates from the two sets of exergual letters that they are a reference to a passage from Virgil’s Ecologues iv.6-7 which reads “Redeunt Saturnia Regna, Iam Nova Progenies Caelo Demittitur Alto” (de la Bédoyère, 82). De la Bédoyère suggests that perhaps at the least the RSR-marked silver denarii of Carausius were likely not intended for widespread general circulation but were instead donatives for the state’s elite (ibid, 85). The substantial weight of the denarii and their metal quality lends some credence to this hypothesis.

The final winners of all CNG Feature Auction 133 lots will be determined at the live online sale that will be held on 15-16 September 2026.

CNG Feature Auction 133 – Session Three – Lot 595-896 will be held Wednesday morning, 16 September 2026 beginning at 9:00 AM ET.

Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.

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