Septimius Severus, 193-211. Aureus (Gold, 21 mm, 7.29 g, 12 h), Rome, 210. SEVERVS PIVS AVG BRIT Laureate head of Septimius Severus to right. Rev. VIRTVS AVGVSTORVM Septimius Severus, Caracalla (in foreground to right), and Geta (in background to left) on horses galloping left, raising their right hands in salute. BMC p. 260, *. Calicó 2577 (same dies). Cohen -, cf. 770 (without BRIT). Hill 1142. RIC -, cf. 305 (without BRIT). Very rare. Struck from slightly worn dies and with very light scratches on the obverse, otherwise, good very fine.


This beautiful dynastic aureus of Septimius Severus depicts the emperor with his two sons and co-rulers Caracalla and Geta riding on horseback to left on the reverse. The coin was issued in the year 210 when the three emperors were waging war against Caledonian tribes in Britannia. The legend propagates the 'bravery of the Augusti', implying the unity of the imperial family - a dream that would soon come to an end with the death of Septimius Severus on February 4, 211. His two sons, who couldn't stand each other, soon engaged in a bitter struggle for power, in which Geta came up short and was slain in December of the same year in the arms of their shared mother, Julia Domna.