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Coin Detail
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ID:     33-581
Type:     Roman Imperial
Issuer:     Nigrinian
Date Ruled:     AD died before Nov. 284
Metal:     Gold
Denomination:     Aureus
Struck / Cast:     struck
Date Struck:     AD circa 284
Diameter:     21 mm
Weight:     4.66 g
Obverse Legend:     DIVO NIGRINIANO
Obverse Description:     Bare-headed bust right
Reverse Legend:     CONSE_CRATIO
Reverse Description:     Nigrinian in biga on funeral pyre
Mint:     Rome
Primary Reference:     RIC V-II 471
Reference2:     Calicó 4412 = Ponton d’Amécourt 594 (this obverse die)
Reference3:     C 1 (most probably these dies)
Photograph Credit:     Numismatica Ars Classica NAC AG
Source:     http://www.arsclassicacoins.com/
Price Sold For:     270000 Swiss Franc
Date Sold:     04/06/2006
Grade:     EF/gEF
Notes:     NAC Auction 33, Lot 581 Of the highest rarity, possibly only the third specimen known, one of the two still in existence (the third, pierced, was stolen in the famous robbery at the Bibliotèque Nationale de France and was most probably melt). One of the rarest names in gold of the entire imperial series. Two minor marks on obverse, one on cheek and one on neck Like so many who appeared on coinage in the later third century, we know precious little about the deified boy Nigrinian. An inscription identifies him as a grandson of Carus, but it can only be deduced from a technical study of the coinage that he was the son of Carinus. It is generally assumed that Magnia Urbica, Carinus’ wife at the time he reigned, was Nigrinian’s mother, but strictly speaking there is no evidence for this. The Historia Augusta gives a poor review of Carinus’ character, especially when it comes to women: "By marrying and divorcing he took nine wives in all, and he put away some of them while they were pregnant…". If we believe the sketchy and unreliable sources for this period, Carinus was one of the great philanderers of his age and Nigrinian could have been born of any number of women. One of the other two known aureii of Nigrinian had a large hole in the field behind the portrait and was among the coins stolen in the great robbery at the Bibliothèque Nationale; fortunately, Cohen reproduced a line drawing of the BN coin (vol. VI, p. 409). Though it is impossible to prove that a coin is from the same dies as another coin that is represented only by a line drawing, it is almost certainly possible in this case. The composition of the letters and devices are identical, and only the smallest details vary, which is acceptable considering the imperfection of that process. The style of this portrait is more refined than what is encountered on Nigrinian’s billon coinage. It is cut in high relief and in a compact and charming style, yet it still retains the characteristic long neck and pronounced truncation often seen on his billon issues. The reverse bears one of the canonical scenes of the Roman consecration issues. Usually described as a pyre, a temporary structure that was burned, Philip Hill has argued that it is actually a crematorium, a permanent structure into which the funeral pyre was placed. A few details vary between the earliest depictions of the crematorium and the one reproduced on this aureus, such as the door seemingly being placed on the top layer rather than on the second layer. According to Hill, the facing chariot that surmounts the structure was a quadriga for men and a biga for women; clearly there are only two horses here, but it is difficult to know if that was an oversight by the engraver, or if it simply was a compression of the scene.