Roman Empire

Carinus, Co-Emperor AD 283-285

RIC 235D; Pink VI/2, p. 36; Calicó 4397, Superb Mint State

Rome, AD 284. IMP C CARINVS P F AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Carinus right. Reverse: VIRTV-S AVGG, Hercules standing facing, headright, leaning on lion’s skin-covered club set on rock.

Soon after Carus came to power, he elevated his eldest son Carinus to the rank of Caesar. In AD 283, Carinus was appointed Augustus so that he could maintain control of the western provinces while Carus and Numerian undertook their ill-fated Persian campaign. Although he enjoyed some early successes against the Quadi in Gaul, he soon retired to Rome where he was reportedly given over to all manner of excess. According to one account he married and divorced nine different women over the course of his three-year reign. His behavior was supposedly so bad that Carus even considered demoting him.