Post your Tetricus II (or barbarous imitation) coins! Tetricus I ascended to the throne of the Gallic empire after the death of Victorinus in the fall of AD 271 but did not confer the rank of Caesar to his son, Tetricus II, until AD 273. His date of birth is unknown, so we don't know how old he was at the time. It is a matter of controversy whether or not Tetricus II received the rank of Augustus. However, by this time, the power of the separatist Gallic empire had declined and in AD 273, Aurelian invaded. The two Tetricii abdicated in the fall of 274 rather than fight the vastly superior forces of Aurelian. Tetricus II and his father were both honored by Aurelian and retired into privileged private life in Rome and his ultimate fate is unknown to history. The coinage of Tetricus II is not extensive and his antoniniani bear only a handful of different reverse types. Moreover, they were typically crudely struck, often off-center and on ragged flans. I consider myself lucky to have this one with a full obverse legend and a reasonable reverse (it's weak at the 4:00-6:00 position and Spes' skirt is barely visible). Spes was the Roman personification of Hope. Spes is normally depicted holding a flower in her extended right hand, and raising a fold of her dress with her left hand. She was called "ultima dea" -- for Hope is the last resort of men. Spes appears on coins of Tetricus II with the reverse inscriptions SPES PVBLICA (public hope, i.e. good hope for one and all) and SPES AVGG (hope of the two emperors). According to Sear (RCV III, p. 395), the "plural ending of the reverse legend on this type clearly does not refer to Tetricus I and II and may be evidence of a desire on the part of Tetricus I to be recognized as an imperial colleague by Aurelian." Tetricus II, Caesar AD 273-274 Roman Æ antoninianus, 18.1 mm, 3.48 g Mainz or Trier, AD 273 - spring 274 Obv: C PIV ESV TETRICVS CAES, radiate and draped bust right, seen from behind Rev: SPES AVGG, Spes advancing left, holding flower and lifting skirt Refs: RIC 270A; Cohen 88; Hunter 11; RVC 11292; Cunetio 2647; Elmer 791; Schulzki AGK 9a.
kool coin(s) and writeup!.. smart and lucky fellas really to have been able to abdicate and retire as such in those very trying times. i need to get these boys in my collection yet.
I LOVED Tetriscus! I used to play it all the time on my Nintendo. I didn't know they made a Tetriscus 2?!?! Maybe that's Why I enjoy filling holes in my coin collection...oh, not the video game. Let me see here. Why yes. Here is my Tetricus the sequel. Tetricus II (Caesar, 273-274). Æ Radiate (16mm, 2.35g, 12h). Treveri. Radiate and draped bust r. R/ Spes walking l., holding 8ower and raising skirt. RIC V pt. 2, 270. Brown patina. Btw, great write up @Roman Collector! Thanks for the fun read!
My Spes Publica pair shows one regular mint and one barbarous example. The third is also barbarous but the reversed legend shows only the backwards SPES so I'm not sure which original it copied.
