Caracalla Denarius “imperial Serapis” — Certificate Of Authenticity

A silver denarius of Caracalla, struck at Rome and attributable, by its titulature and iconographic arrangement, to the year AD 212, a particularly expressive collector’s piece because it combines, on the obverse, the emperor’s laureate portrait with the honorific BRIT, and, on the reverse, the solemn presence of Serapis, the Greco-Egyptian deity whose iconography—polos (modius) on the head, right hand raised in a gesture of salute/power, scepter held in the left—appears in a well-established form in the repertories for this precise type, referenced as RIC IV 194 / Cohen 195 / BMC 39.

Careful observation under ×10 magnification and raking light: the specimen shows a coherent-module silver flan with a crisp peripheral beading, nuanced grey toning, and fine traces of circulation compatible with a regular monetary history; the obverse remains comfortably readable thanks to a well-modeled portrait (legible laurel wreath, structured hair and beard, remaining profile relief), and the reverse clearly preserves the decisive markers of the type (polos, raised-hand gesture, transverse scepter), allowing a stable and immediately satisfying typological identification.

Authority / period: Caracalla (AD 198–217).

Mint: Rome.

Denomination / metal: Denarius, silver (AR).

Diameter / weight: 18 mm; 3.51 g (as stated), within the usual variability observed for this type.

Obverse (reading and type): ANTONINVS PIVS AVG BRIT, laureate head right, Severan Roman-style portrait of Caracalla, with the Britannicus epithet explicitly carried in the legend.

Reverse (reading and type): P M TR P XV COS III P P, Serapis standing left, wearing the polos, raising the right hand and holding a transverse scepter in the left hand.

References: RIC 194; Cohen 195; BMC 39 (catalogue concordance commonly cited in numismatic sales).

The choice of Serapis on Caracalla’s denarii belongs to a religious and political horizon in which eastern cults, fully integrated within the Empire, became supports of legitimation, and in which the god’s iconography—scepter, raised-hand gesture, attributes of sovereignty and protection—serves a discourse of stability, tutelary power, and divine favor; a reading that museum institutions and numismatic literature connect with Severan devotions, Serapis appearing as a figure the dynasty readily foregrounded on its coinage.

For the collector, this denarius brings together a strong titulature (BRIT; tribunician XV; consul III; pater patriae) and a reverse of high iconographic intensity, since Serapis, a syncretic deity of Ptolemaic origin widely diffused across the Empire, is instantly recognizable by his polos and scepter, while the pose—right hand raised—belongs to a statuary and monetary typology explicitly described as common in imperial representations of Serapis; this gives the coin a strongly “thematic” presence, ideal for a collection devoted to the Severans, to eastern cults at Rome, or to protective deities on imperial silver.

The provenance is European, from an established numismatic dealer, and the acquisition was carried out through a specialized international transaction within a recognized numismatic network, in accordance with the highest practices of the art and heritage market; the attribution is founded on concordance of the legends and type with RIC IV 194, as summarized in consultable reference works and repeated in market catalogues.
Each specimen is examined, described, and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity consistent with the standards of the art and heritage market, this notice being deliberately limited to observable and documentable elements so that the collector’s confidence rests on a verifiable and durable basis.