Coin, Pertinax, Sestertius
193 - Rome - VF(30-35) - Bronze - Cohen:5 - RIC:14
PLEASE NOTE: this collector's item is unique. We therefore cannot guarantee its availability over time and recommend that you do not delay too long in completing your purchase if you are interested.
Bearded head of Pertinax, to right.
Aequitas standing on the left, holding a scale and a cornucopia.
Pertinax reigned only briefly, from January to March 193. Born of a freed father, he rose to prominence thanks to a brilliant military career which took him to Brittany, the Danube and the Balkans, where he was appointed governor of Mesa for the first time. Close to Marcus Aurelius, he was charged with watching over the young emperor Commodus. This last will proceed nevertheless to heavy purges to which Pertinax escapes, and will even name him proconsul of Africa and prefect of Rome at the end of his reign. Commodus is assassinated at the end of 192 and the conspirators of this act propose Pertinax to the post of emperor, what will validate the Senate as of January 193. Reputed to be favorable to the Senate and to the old Roman virtues, he nevertheless imposed a strict discipline to his army, which was badly lived and did not pay his troops in time. In retaliation, in March 193 a group of soldiers burst into his palace to put him to death. A period of war of succession followed. The brevity of his reign, barely three months, makes the great rarity of his coinage, which moreover comes only from the workshop in Rome. Supplied with its old pouch.
IMP CAES P HELV PERTINAX AVG
[AE]QVIT AVG TR COS II / S C
22.01 gr
Bronze
Bronze (not to be confused with brass, although usage of the two terms varied in times of yore) is an extremely ancient alloy with origins going back to the period around 2,000 BC. Also known...wait for it...as the Bronze Age (who would have guessed?). Back in ancient times, a proportion of 10% tin was added to copper. It was used in particular for luxurious objects such as swords, helmets, hairpins, and even chariot ornaments.
That is by no means insignificant though, as when putting on a bronze helmet you would already find yourself with an extra 3 kilos or so on your head. Add to that your sword and armor…let’s see you advance quickly now!
The heavyweight of alloys one might say*.
The first Western bronze coins probably date back to the end of the 4th century BC and Greece.
Although the coins may be ancient, it is more difficult to date the appearance of a specific word for this alloy. The earliest record is a Venetian manuscript in Greek dating from the 11th century, but it is not impossible that it was in use earlier.
Nowadays, the bronze used in coinage is an alloy of copper (majority) and tin (minority) along with other metals such as zinc, for example, which improves the castability, or nickel, which produces a harder alloy. Its main qualities are undeniably its great resistance to corrosion and mechanical wear as well as...its aesthetic aspect.
The patina of bronze can vary, ranging from verdigris to brown through to black.
*Actually, puns aside, copper and cupronickel have a greater density, for example.