Dr. Hubert Lanz operates a first class numismatic firm in Munich, Germany. On 20 November 2000, Lanz held an auction of a large number of Roman imperial coins and medallions, from the collection of Leo Benz. In preparation for that auction, Lanz published a photographic catalog. (See his great website www.numislanz.com, where all of his catalogs are online.)

Thanks to Dr. Lanz in granting permission, the following images of bi-metallic pieces are excerpted from that catalog and are accompanied with some descriptive information. All of them depict Roman emperors and/or their family members. The dates shown are those relating to the bi-metallic pieces themselves.

Item 81, Caracalla, 196-197 AD; bronze and brass medallion, showing young Caracalla in armor. The seam between the inner and outer pieces can be seen mostly outside the circular lettering, except on the obverse left. The catalog's suggested price was 5000 DMs, and it sold for 4600 DMs.

Item 82, Caracalla, 213 AD; bi-metallic Sestertius, showing Caracalla at an older age. The seam between the inner and outer pieces can be seen through the circular lettering and at the back of the beautifully detailed chariot. The catalog's suggested price was 25000 DMs, and it sold for 20000 DMs.

Item 134, Elagabalus, 219 AD; bi-metallic medallion. This black and white photo shows the seam outside the circular lettering. The catalog's suggested price was 900 DMs, and it sold for 2000 DMs.

Item 185, Severus Alexander and Julia Mamaea, 231 AD; bronze and brass medallion, showing the dual facing portraits of the emperor and his mother (?). The seam is best seen on the reverse side. The catalog's suggested price was 30000 DMs, and it sold for 50000 DMs, which surely acknowledged this piece's gorgeous detail.

Item 192, Julia Mamaea, 228 AD; bronze and brass medallion, showing the emperor's mother alone. The seam is clear on both sides of the piece. The catalog's suggested price was 12000 DMs, and it sold for 13000 DMs.

Item 243, Gordianus III, 241 AD bronze and brass medallion, showing the emperor holding a lance and figures in a chariot, including Mars. The seam is best seen inside the circular lettering on the reverse side. The catalog's suggested price was 20000 DMs, and it sold for 18500 DMs.

Item 262, Philippus, 244 AD; bronze and brass medallion, showing the emperor and legionnaires. The seam is best seen outside the circular lettering on both sides, and the coloring of the two different metals is best shown on this piece. The catalog's suggested price was 10000 DMs, and it sold for 8500 DMs.

Item 276, Octacilia Severa, 247-249 AD; bronze and brass medallion, showing the Emperor Philippus's wife. The seam is matched and hidden by the inner of two circular rims in the medallion's design. The catalog's suggested price was 5000 DMs, but it was apparently not sold in the auction.

In doing a bit of encyclopedia research on these pieces, I noticed that without exception, that every one of the emperors shown were murdered by their successors except Philippus who died in battle. Caracalla was rumored to have killed his father Emperor Septimus Severus, and his brother (in front of his mother - nice guy), but then was murdered in 217AD by his successor Macrinus (no bi-metallic for Macrinus). Elagabalus takes the throne in 218AD after Macrinus is slain trying to kill him, but he was murdered in 222 by his successor Severus Alexander. But Severus is slain in 233 by his successor Maximinus Thrax (no bi-metallic for Max). Gordianus III was slain by Philippus in 244, but Philippus died in battle on 249.

Now how relevant is all that murder and that to bi-metallics? Could the bi-metallics have been struck as attempts at propaganda?