I own a bunch of coins of Gallienus, but this is my first "silver" coin. I'm not sure of the silver content, but it's definitely not a silver wash. Gallienus AR Antoninianus OBV: GALLIENVS dot P dot F dot AVG, radiate, cuirassed bust left, holding spear over shoulder and shield on left arm REV: VIRT GALLIENI AVG, Emperor walking right, holding transverse sceptre (point forwards) and round shield, treading down fallen enemy lying on ground before him Struck at Milan, 258-9 AD 2.94g, 22mm RIC 54 left[j]
Hm ... left portraits are always nice ! A friend of mine collects only left faced denarii, most of them are unpublished !
Nice Gallienus Bing! Here's mine. Gallienus; 253-268 AD Bronze AR Antoninianus, Antioch, sole reign; OBV: GALLENIVS AVG; Radiate draped & cuirassed bust Right REV: PM TR P X III; Lion walking Left with bull’s head between paws (RIC 602A)
Thanks. Too bad the coin is not in better shape like yours. Is your coin solid silver or silver wash?
Great Coin! :thumb: Bing, yours looks more like a trident than a spear... Sadly, this coin isn't better struck...
RB: It's my understanding that by the time Gallienus had sole reign, his coins were very debased and only silver washed. That is why I went for this coin. It's not silver washed and the only one I own that's not.
Mines solid silver. The toning and lighting I used make it look more billon, but its not grainy. I had one that was billon (it felt ver grainy) and one that was AE but traded them
Randy, that's a great portrait. I was looking at a similar lion on another coin, but it got too expensive for me.
Colonia Agrippina (Cologne) continued to mint good-metal silver coins even after the content and standards of the Rome mint took a nose dive. I've lately become interested in the differing rates of declining quality at the various mints under Gallienus and the Gallic emperors. I like to grab nice examples of the last truly silver antoniniani minted by the empire when I can -- like the following. Note the punctuation between the abbreviations on the obverse legend. This quirk was typical of the Colonia Agrippina engravers of that era.
One of my favorite coins as well as firsts. I loved its die crack as well as one of the best full silvers of him. Rarely have I seen any just as good. Did I mention its 5.1g? Pretty heavy for him. Gallienus (253 - 268 A.D.) AR Antoninianus O: IMP C P LIC GALLIENVS AVG, Radiate and cuirassed bust right. R: IOVI CONSERVA, Jupiter standing left, head turned right, holding scepter in right and thunderbolt in left. 5.1g 24mm RIC 143F (Rome) Sear 10237
Those early antoniniani of Gallienus appear to have as much silver content as any good, earlier denarii. Great piece, Bing. And great pieces in the rest of the thread. :thumb: