ROMAN IMPERIAL COINS, Septimius Severus (193-211), Denarius, Rome, 211, bust right, rev. CONSECRATIO, eagle with spread wings on globe, head left, 3.33g/12h (Hill 1232; RIC Caracalla 191c; RSC 84). Extremely fine £90-120

Long a victim of gout, Severus died at York in 211, leaving his sons the advice ‘not to disagree, give money to the soldiers, and ignore the rest’. The end of the last emperor for 80 years to die in bed is said to have been hastened by Caracalla