Caracalla AR Denarius AD 212 Rome Salus seated BRIT TR P XV RIC 196

Caracalla, denarius, silver, reign AD 198–217, struck AD 212 (Rome), 3.20 g, 19 mm. Obverse: ANTONINVS PIVS AVG BRIT; laureate bust right. Reverse: P M TR P XV COS III P P; Salus seated left, feeding a snake coiled around an altar from a patera and holding cornucopiae. Struck at Rome; TR P XV firmly dates the issue to AD 212. Broad flan with complete legends; slight central softness on obverse and a short flan fissure at 6 o’clock on reverse. Reference: RIC IV Caracalla 196.

Issued in the year following Septimius Severus’ death at York, this denarius retains Caracalla’s British victory title “BRIT,” granted during the northern campaigns of AD 208–211. The Salus type advertised the health and safety of the emperor and the state during Caracalla’s consolidation of sole rule in AD 212 after the elimination of his brother Geta, reflecting a standard Rome-mint message of stability and continuity.