Pescennius Niger, 193-194. Tetradrachm 193-194, Antioch. Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / Eagle standing facing, head right, talons grasping palm branch. 11,67g. Prieur 177 var. One of the finest coins known from this rare emperor. Perfectly struck on a large flan. Nice dark patina. Good extremely fine. Provenance: Barry Feirstein Collection, assembled between 1994 and 2007, NAC 39 (16 May 2007), 132. Baron Lorne Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection. In 193, the emperor Pertinax was assassinated by the Praetorian Guard, who then proclaimed Didius Julianus emperor after he had promised them enormous sums of money. The scandal that followed was immediate, and the news provoked revolts throughout the Empire. In Pannonia, the legions proclaimed Septimius Severus emperor, while the armies in Britain acclaimed Clodius Albinus. In Syria, the legions proclaimed Pescennius Niger, soon joined by those of Cappadocia, Egypt, and Arabia. Pescennius Niger left remarkably few traces in the surviving sources, yet he appears to have been a talented and capable military commander. He established his headquarters at Antioch, where he also struck coinage, as this magnificent tetradrachm demonstrates. Its reverse legend alludes to the belief that Pescennius Niger enjoyed the favor of the Gods and would therefore emerge victorious from the fight for the throne. This tetradrachm is of the greatest rarity. Butcher records only six specimens, noting that each was struck from a different pair of dies, while Prieur lists seven, with each of the five specimens he illustrates having been struck from a different obverse die.