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Aureus - Carausius PAX CARAVSI AVG, Londinium
| Issuer | Britannic Empire (Roman splinter states) |
|---|---|
| Year | 286-287 |
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| Currency | Antoninianus (286-296) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | The personification of Pax, draped and standing left, extends an olive branch in her right hand and holds a long sceptre in her left hand. The reverse legend PAX CARAVSI AVG, unusually incorporating the emperor's name into the divine personification's title, encircles the figure — a distinctive and propagandistic feature of Carausian coinage asserting the peace of his reign. The composition follows established Roman imperial iconographic conventions for the Pax type. The striking is characteristic of the hammered gold aurei produced at the Londinium mint during the earliest phase of the Britannic Empire. |
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| Additional information |
Carausius seized Britain and northwestern Gaul in 286, declaring himself Augustus in direct defiance of Maximian — who promptly ordered his assassination, unsuccessfully, for years. What makes this issue remarkable is that Carausius was no opportunistic usurper by background: he was a Menapian sailor of low birth who had earned genuine military command through competence, and he used that credibility to mint coinage of conspicuously high gold quality, deliberately signaling legitimacy he lacked on paper.
The Londinium mint under his control was among the first organised gold-striking operations Britain had seen in generations.