Anyone Have a Gallienus Sestertius?

I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on this one from a fixed price dealer but the price is fairly high, I'm assuming that sestertii were only struck for part of Gallienus' and Valerian's reign but I'm not sure about that. One would assume that after the full debasement of the antoniniani there would be no way to maintain the traditional tariffed relationship between the silver and the larger bronze pieces. Anyway, should I go for it?

Also, feel free to post any sestertii of Mr. neckbeard that you have, would love to see them. After the mid 250's I assume the portraiture would have been irrevocably changed from the realistic coins of the principate to eventually the style of Diocletian and the dominate.

 

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That is one of the best portraits of him that I have seen so far. His neckbeard doesn't look quite so disgusting.

 

My latest is this Valerian but I suspect most/all of the Gallienus sestertii were issued during the joint reign years so it is not completely out of place here. Your Gallienus strikes me as having more legend than most. Have you compared it to the ones sold online?
https://www.cngcoins.com/Search.asp...R_TYPE_ID_2=1&SEARCH_IN_CONTAINER_TYPE_ID_4=1

 

Very nice coin with a great portrait, hard to tell if it's a good buy or a great buy without knowing the price.

 

More expensive than balbinus to give you an idea.

 

Well yours is as good as this one.....https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=154105

 

Great example.

 

That's a gorgeous example of a scarce coin. I only have antoniniani of him and an Alexandrian tet.

 

@ancient coin hunter I have one, not as good as yours, which I showed in this thread:
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/square-rectangular-coins-e-g-gordian-iii.317172/#post-3094306
I was wondering why they were square.
My dad bought it back in 1975 for $50

 

That is a neat specimen with a large flan and rather complete legends - something rarely seen! Here is mine - with sideburns, but also from the first emission of Gallienus and Valerian in 253 aD:



I like the copper tone on the OP coin! It would make a nice companion piece to my Valerian. The Roman mint was still able to produce full and round Sestertius flans at the beginning of the joint reign:



But more often they did not care, as we can see on my rather squarish Mariniana:



From then on, both production numbers of imperial bronzes and quality control at the roman mint went down rapidly. While Sestertii of Valerian Junior and even Saloninus do exist, they are very rare, weight only 12-15 grams and rare mostly in a deplorable state due to inferior metal being used. The same basically applies to Sestertii of Valerian and Gallienus of the mid-to late 250s, when the copper available was needed for the mass production of billon Antoniniani.

It was Postumus in Gaul who resurrected the Sestertius in 260 and produced enormous numbers of greatly varying quality until 262. While many look outright barbaric, some are of better style than the contemporary works of the roman mint:



Meanwhile at Rome the production of Sestertii from the beginning of the sole reign of Gallienus was basically restricted to presentation pieces, like this 263 aD specimen of Salonina for which a Medallion die was used for the obverse (weight is down to 11,64 grams):



Sestertius production at Rome was discontinued altogether in 264 aD.

 

Sestertii of Gallienus and Valerian can be expensive but I cant imagine more than Balbinus.

 

I see that that coin went for $1200 in 2010. The coin I'm considering is less than that but more than I paid for a Balbinus sestertius. But it's a beautiful coin with clear legends and a round flan. Thanks for posting the link

 

Well this one is about $100 more than the Balbinus I have @Ken Dorney - It's a fixed price sale so not much wiggle room on price I guess. The dealer is in the U.S. so that's one positive factor. Probably will make my decision today, that is if another member of the forum doesn't snatch it up before then.

 

That's a superior Gallienus sest. Judging by acsearch, a lowball offer would be 300ish, and there are equivalent coins in the 400-450 range. It's certainly a darn sight better than mine! (It's not as bad as the photo, though.)


I do have a bronze from the sole reign period, but it's an as (of Salonina, IVNO REGINA Juno with patera and scepter, RIC 53, dates to 260-62.) I was happy to get it in any condition:

 

wow!..i figured it'd have to be up there cause i've really never seen one for sale that i remember..

 

Apart from the odd example here and there, I have hardly seen these come up for sale as well. I did see a couple following a google search that were in relatively poor condition and they are going for $150-$250. The coin that I posted is $725.

 

I'm late to the party but that OP sestertius is gorgeous

Here's what I have for the period :


Valerian, Sestertius Rome mint, AD 253-255
IMP C P LIC VALERIANVS AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right
VIRTVS AVGG, Virtus or Mars standing left resting on shield and holding spear. S - C in field
18.7 gr
Ref : RCV # 10025v, Cohen # 269



Gallienus, Sestertius - Rome mint, AD 253-255
IMP C P LIC GALLIENVS AVG, Laureate and draped and cuirassed bust of Gallienus right
CONCORDIA EXERCIT, Concordia standing left, holding double cornucopia and patera.
18.5 gr
Ref : RIC # 209, Göbl # 15dd, Cohen #132, RCV #10467



Salonina, Sestertius - Rome mint, AD 256-260
CORNELIA SALONINA AVG, Diademed and draped bust of Salonina right
IVNO REGINA, Juno standing left, with patera and sceptre, SC in field
20.05 gr
Ref : RIC # 46, RCV #10679, Cohen #62


Q

 

Same from me.. just the Valerian from the era.. modest coin but I really do love the portrait.

 

Yesterday I received a Gallienus sestertius from overseas, and over the past month I've added 3 more contemporary sestertii.

Gallienus


His wife, Salonina


His father, Valerian


And usurper, Postumus

 

Great addition @Justin Lee!