Macrinus, 217-218. Antoninianus (Silver, 23 mm, 4.63 g, 6 h), Rome, spring-summer 217. IMP C M OPEL SEV MCRINVS (sic!) AVG Radiate and cuirassed bust of Macrinus to right. Rev. SECVRITAS TEMPORVM Securitas seated left, holding short scepter in her right hand and leaning her head on her left; to left, lighted and garlanded altar. BMC -. Cohen 126 var. (obverse legend). RIC 95 var. (obverse legend). Very rare with this interesting obverse legend spelling error. Attractively toned. Slightly rough, otherwise, very fine.

One might expect Roman die engravers to have taken particular care to avoid mistakes in the emperor’s name. It is therefore all the more surprising that spelling errors nevertheless occasionally occurred, though rarely as conspicuous as here, with MCRINVS instead of MACRINVS. Since our coin belongs to the usurper’s first issue, the error may reflect the fact that the emperor’s name was still unfamiliar to the engraver. After years of cutting dies bearing the names of Septimius Severus and Caracalla, the sudden transition to a new ruler from outside the dynasty must initially have been particularly difficult