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Denarius FIDES PRAETORIANORVM
| Issuer | Roman Empire (27 BC - 395 AD) |
|---|---|
| Year | 68-69 |
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| Reference(s) | RIC I#121, OCRE#ric.1(2).cw.121, BMC RE#64, Cohen#363 |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Central device depicting two right hands clasped in a dextrarum iunctio, mirroring the obverse type and emphasizing the pledge of loyalty between the emperor and the Praetorian Guard. The hands are boldly struck in high relief against a plain field. The legend FIDES PRAETORIANORVM is distributed around the central motif, partially visible across the lower portion of the flan. The coin exhibits the characteristic irregular planchet and forceful die work of the civil war coinage struck circa AD 68–69. The reverse type, like the obverse, eschews portraiture in favor of a purely symbolic allegiance motif. |
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| Additional information |
Struck during the Year of the Four Emperors, this denarius belongs to the coinage of Galba, who issued a remarkable series of types explicitly courting military loyalty after Nero's fall. The FIDES PRAETORIANORVM legend was a calculated gamble — Galba needed the Praetorian Guard's allegiance but famously refused to pay them the donative they expected for switching sides. That refusal cost him his life on January 15, 69 AD, when Praetorian soldiers dragged him into the Forum and killed him, his head carried through Rome on a pole.