| Heritage World Coin Auctions > CSNS Signature Sale 3115 | Auction date: 8 May 2024 |
| Lot number: 31090 Price realized: This lot is for sale in an upcoming auction - Bid on this lot  | Show similar lots on CoinArchives Find similar lots in upcoming auctions on  |
| Lot description: Ancients Pertinax (1 January-28 March AD 193). AV aureus (20mm, 7.20 gm, 7h). NGC Choice MS 5/5 - 5/5. Rome. IMP CAES P HELV-PERTIN•AVG, laureate head of Pertinax right / LAETITIA•TEM-POR COS II, Laetitia standing facing, head left, wreath downward in right hand, grounded scepter in left. Calicó 2383. RIC IV.I 4a. Arresting portrait, haloed by cascading flow lines, on a brilliant, highly lustrous flan. Ex Heritage Auctions, Auction 3099 (5 May 2022), lot 30111; Maison Palombo, Auction 15 (22 October 2016), lot 60(realized 115,000 CHF). The brief, tragic reign of Helvius Pertinax stands as evidence of how far talent and hard work could take an individual in the Roman world, as well as the dangers of high office. Pertinax began life as the son of a freed slave. Given a good education, he first became a school teacher, then began a career with the Roman Legions and rose quickly. He won the confidence of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius during the Marcommanic War, when he took charge of a legion and intercepted a barbarian horde invading Italy. He was made a senator and heaped with honors, including the governorships of Moesia, Dacia, and Syria. With Commodus descending into megalomania, a conspiracy formed and the plotters saw the elderly, widely respected Pertinax as the ideal candidate to replace him. Whether he was privy to the plot is uncertain, but immediately after the murder of Commodus on 31 December AD 192, Pertinax went to the Praetorian camp, promised the guard a bonus, and was proclaimed emperor. The Senate enthusiastically ratified his elevation and he initiated a number of popular reforms against the excesses of Commodus, including a crackdown on military indiscipline. This, along with his failure to pay the promised donative, alienated the Praetorians, who held true power in Rome. Although one plot against him was thwarted, Pertinax made the mistake of trying to quell another mutiny by addressing the guard in person. In the middle of the address, a soldier hurled his spear and transfixed him. Pertinax had ruled all of 86 days. Due to the brevity of his reign, the coinage of Pertinax is quite rare, but of unusually high artistic quality. https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/roman-imperial/ancients-pertinax-1-january-28-march-ad-193-av-aureus-20mm-720-gm-7h-ngc-choice-ms-5-5-5-5/a/3115-31090.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3115-05082024 HID02906262019 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved Estimate: 70000-80000 USD |  |
