Postumus = emperor Posthumus (with "h") = after death. Yup, you will be more confused until things start to drop into place, we have all been there
Our English word posthumous actually derives from the Latin postumus, meaning late-born. We don't know anything of the emperor Postumus' early history, but perhaps he took longer in the womb than most? Or perhaps he was born late in his mother's history of childbearing? All we can say for certain is that he was born at a very young age.
Roman naming conventions are confusing to me, but given its position in his name Marcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus) doesn't that mean it is some type of agnomen, a nickname or title attached to his given name? Little is known about his early years and I can't find a date of birth for him. Maybe he was relatively old, "late to the purple" :: Postumus?
What I've heard was that his mother died during childbirth and he was brought out through cesarean birth. That's how he acquired his name, being born after his mother's death.
Well, I wasn't going to reveal this one yet, but may as well now. I was watching it on Vcoins for quite a few months, and it finally went down in price, so I snapped it up. I was going to wait and do a write up on it later, but I guess this is as good a place as ever to show it off. Please excuse my humble example. The dies were quite used when it was struck, hence all the flow marks. Maybe not as nice as others here, but it is mine and it is what I have. Postumus AR Antoninianus. Treveri (Trier) Mint 266 AD. Obverse: IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right. Reverse: SALVS AVG, Aesculapius standing right, head left, leaning on snake-entwined staff, globe at feet right. RIC V: 326. Size: 22mm, 3.93g.
This made me laugh. I wonder how many of us may have thought the same when we first started (death of Antoninianus - LOL).
The double sestertii shown are nice but, more, typical in that nice coins are not always all that great on both sides. Finding coins that do not scream to be given separate grades like VF/G can be an issue. Awwwww, you got my hopes up. I would love to see your single and double aurei but really wanted to see if you would show a dupondius and offer an opinion on how small they had to be before radiate bronzes stopped qualifying for the title 'double sestertius'. There are several on vCoins now including one at 7.5g that I once owned but traded to Reid who sold it to.... It is as nice as I have seen on the reverse but has this little problem that allowed me to let it go and has kept people from buying it for quite a while now. I wouldn't mind having it back but I'm not paying five times what I payed the first time. As I understood it the agnomen Postumus was applied to boys who were born after the death of their father. However rules of the 1st century BC were not necessarily in place in Gaul 300 years later so I do not know if this applies here. The famous use of this was Agrippa Postumus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrippa_Postumus Note particularly his death conveniently came within hours of that of Augustus. He had been banished by Augustus for scandalous behavior but being by blood a grandson of Augustus was way too much to allow him to live. Right Tiberius? Sure, we all believe in coincidences!
There are some ressources in french about mint attribution of the coins minted during the gallic empire. I can't put my hand on an online version of the CGB "Rome XV" catalog with an introduction by Jerome Mairat giving evidences for what he thinks has to be attributed to Köln (Cologne) or Trier (Treves). Also there is another ressource that I have a link for : http://www.academia.edu/2133460/Les...celles_de_Lélien_269_._Nouvelles_propositions Other than that, here's my Double sestertius Postumus, Double sestertius struck in Cologne, AD 261 IMP C M CASS LAT POSTVMVS P F AVG, Radiate bust of Postumus right LAETITIA AVG, Galley travelling left 18.12 gr Ref : Cohen #177, RCV #11049 Q
@dougsmit I don't have a stupendous yet but those are much closer to what I can afford. I've never seen any of his gold so I don't know if it's something I could even afford. Sorry to have got your hopes up only to dash them.
As a teenaged collector, my first book on ancient coins was RSC volume 4. I spent hours pouring over the photos of Postumus' coins, dreaming of owning a facing portrait or heroic Hercules bust one day. I still don't have 'em. Some things never become affordable. My scarcest Posthumous is this SALVS PROVINCIARVM from his first emission. It doesn't even look like Postumus yet, and it contains his full name, normally reserved for the large bronzes.
Do you have the 1983 edition? Is each coin individually pictured? I only have the 1967 edition, and in that one only a few coins get images, the rest are just catalog descriptions. It's still a very useful guide, and I'm glad I got all 5 volumes, but if the 83 edition has every coin imaged, that would be something cool to own.
My first copy was the 1971 edition. Not every coin was pictured. I now have the 1983 edition, which also includes photos of some of the coins. 26 out of 452 listings contain a photo.
Well now, THAT is pretty cool! I normally am not into the Imperial period, but I do like the unusual or rare areas.
