Tacitus BI Aurelianianus AD 275-276 Ch VF

The double denarius, sometimes called an antoninianus or aurelianianus, was a result of inflation in the Roman Empire.  In 215 AD, Caracalla stopped production of the regular silver denarius and introduced the double denarius, which only used 1.5x the material of a regular denarius.  In 274 AD under Aurelian, the composition of double denarii changed from a silver alloy to bronze with a silver coating.  Some consider double denarii from 274 and beyond to be a different denomination (aurelianiani) than previous double denarii (antoniniani).  On a double denarius’s obverse, emperors are depicted wearing a radiate crown and empresses are pictured with a crescent moon under their shoulders.  This specific double denarius was minted during the reign of Tacitus.

The early life of Marcus Claudius Tacitus is shrouded in mystery, but it is known that he was most likely born to a wealthy Umbrian family. Over the course of his extraordinarily long life, he held the title of consul twice: once under Emperor Valerian, and once in 273 under the legendary Emperor Aurelian. By the time of Aurelian's assassination, Tacitus was extremely well respected, and held the venerable position of Princeps Senatus. His brief reign was notable only for cleaning up the mess left in Aurelian's absence: deifying his predecessor, executing his assassins, and restoring senatorial powers. Just before his death, Tacitus became known as Gothicus Maximus after his victory against Heruli (germanic) mercenaries that Aurelian had planned for his Eastern Campaign. Tacitus died of a fever in 276, but conflicting accounts claim that he was assassinated by military officials after putting his relatives into positions of power.

This coin was graded Ch VF (choice very fine) by the Numismatic Grading Company, the official grading service of the American Numismatic Association and the Professional Numismatists Guild.  Here is a list of grades used by the NGC, as well as information about Strike, Surface, and Style ratings.

Obverse: IMP C M CL TACITVS AVG (Imperator Caesar Marcus Claudius Tacitus Augustus, translation: Supreme Commander Caesar Marcus Claudius Tacitus, Emperor); radiate, draped, and curiassed bust right
Reverse: PROVIDENTIA AVG (Providentia Augusti, translation: the foresight of the emperor); Providentia standing left, holding rod and cornucopiae, with globe at feet, XXI followed by officina mark A in exergue

Reference: RCV 11799, RIC V.1 92