December 2007

The Roman Empire 
Divus Nigrinian, son of Carinus 

Numismatica Ars Classica Auction 33, 2007.
Lot No.: 581
Estimate: CHF 200,000.
d=21 mm

Aureus ca 284 AD, AV 4.66 g. 
Obv: DIVO NIGRINIANO Bare-headed bust r. 
Rev. CONSE–CRATIO Nigrinian in facing biga on funeral pyre.
Calicó 4412 = Ponton d’Amécourt 594 (this obverse die). 
Cohen 1 (most probably these dies). RIC V-II 471.

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
 melted down). One of the rarest names in gold of the
 entire imperial series. Two minor marks on obverse, 
one on cheek and one on neck, otherwise extremely fine / 
good extremely fine

Like so many who appeared on coinage in the later 3rd 
 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.