Roman Imperial Coinage, Carausius (286-293), Denarius, London, 286, imp caravsivs p f avg, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right, rev. altar inscribed mvl tis xx imp in three lines, rsr below, 3.24g (RIC 595; Shiel 98-100; RSC 114; S 669B). A few flan chips, otherwise about very fine, old collection tone £700-£900

The legend RSR seen on the reverse of this coin has been recognised by Guy de la Bédoyère as the initials of an extract from Virgil’s Eclogues, Redeunt Saturnia Regna (’the kingdom of Saturn returns’). Similar extracts from Virgil are seen elsewhere on Carausius’ coinage, which - as Graham Barker has argued - formed part of a wider policy of imperial propaganda that through coin legends and iconography cast Carausius as a true successor to Augustus.
The weights of Carausian Denarii have been subject to similar analysis. As Estiot has argued, Carausius appears to have struck his Denarii at an ideal weight of 3.90g, or 84 to the Roman pound. The usurper’s employment of the long abandoned ‘Augustan’ standard aligns well with prevailing interpretations of the iconography of Carausius’ coins. Given Carausius’ propensity for referencing distant Roman precedents in order to reinforce his and his empire’s legitimacy, it is intelligible that he consciously chose to resurrect a long defunct weight standard.