MAGNIA URBICA (Augusta, 283-285). Antoninianus. Rome.

Obv: MAGN VRBICA AVG.
Draped bust right, wearing stephane and set upon crescent.
Rev: VENVS VICTRIX / KAς.
Venus standing left, holding helmet and sceptre; shield to left.

RIC 343.

Magnia Urbica was the wife of emperor Carinus, the mother of Nigrinianus, and the last Augusta of the 'Soldatenkaiser' period. Since literary sources make almost no mention of her, her profile emerges primarily from coins and inscriptions, which serve as the main means of understanding how she was officially represented and how she was perceived by provincial communities. From a numismatic perspective, Urbica enjoys considerable visibility: a significant percentage of the coin issues under Carinus bear her name. Her coins emphasize the marital and dynastic bond; many reverses associate Urbica with female deities linked to the sphere of marriage and family, such as Venus Victrix, Venus Genitrix, Juno Regina, and Pudicitia. These images underline the role of the Augusta as the guarantor of the dynasty’s continuity and the stability of imperial power. Other coin types, such as Concordia and Salus, depict Urbica as a figure who ensures harmony, prosperity and the preservation of the state. Urbica is often honored as 'mater castrorum', and sometimes as 'mater castrorum senatus ac patriae', titles that present her as the symbolic mother of the army and the entire community. These titles, previously used for Faustina the Younger and Julia Domna, served to strengthen the bond between the imperial family and the army, which was crucial in an era of instability.

Condition: Good very fine.

Weight: 3.35 g.
Diameter: 23 mm.

Estimate: € 300.