I rarely stray from my path of restricting myself to Sestertii, and if I do so, it is only when large bronzes for a ruler do not exist or are so rare that a month´s income will not buy a decent example. So when I make an exception and get a silver coin as a substitute, I try to look for a sharp portrait and good silver quality. Valerianus Junior was raised to the rank of Caesar at Rome in late 256 by his grandfather Valerian I and his father Gallienus, who ruled as joint Augusti, when he was still a teenager. The following year he was put in charge of the defence of the Danube border, but died early in 258. He was deified and succeeded as Caesar by his younger brother Saloninus, who in turn perished during the revolt of Postumus 260. VALERIANVS CAES - Radiate and draped bust of Valerian II right / IOVI CRESCENTI - child Jupiter riding right on the goat Amalthea, looking left, right hand raised, left hand holding goat´s horn Antoninianus, Lugdunum or Cologne (?), late 256- early 258 RIC 3, Göbl/MIR 907e, Elmer 67a, Sear 10731 The reverse IOVI CRESCENTI with the infant Jupiter was struck for Valerianus II only. It appears on Antoniniani, extremely rare Aurei, and a unique Sestertius. The goat Amalthea had been born as nymph and lived on the island of Crete. When she and some other nymphs were playing at a creek, they heard a baby cry in a cave at Mount Ida. They immediately went into the cave and Amalthea was holding and consoling the newborn boy, when his mother returned. This was Rhea, wife of the Titan Kronos. Kronos had been prophesied that one of his children would thrust him from the throne, and therefore had devoured all the children his wife had given him. When one day Rhea had realized that she was pregnant again, she had decided to flee and hide. But Kronos quickly became suspicious and searched for her everywhere, and soon stood in front of the cave and demanded that Rhea deliver the child to him. Rhea handed him a stone wrapped in bloody diapers, which Kronos devoured immediately. He then asked Rhea to come with him immediately. She accompanied him for a while, then pretended to be weak from birth, let Kronos go ahead, and ran back. When she found her little son save and sound in the caring arms of the young nymph, Rhea asked her to look after little Zeus and turned her into a divine goat so she could feed the child with milk, ambrosia, and nectar. She called the beautiful white goat „Amaltheia“, which in Greek means "divine white goat". Amalthea suckled the child with her milk. From their horns, Zeus drank nectar and ambrosia. In addition, a swarm of bees brought him mountain honey. One day, when littlle Zeus cried, Kronos became suspicious and wanted to know who caused the noise in the cave. As he could not enter because he was too tall, he could only stick his head in the mouth of the cave. But before his eyes had grown accustomed to the darkness, Amalthea jumped up and gave him a huge blow with her horns. Amalthea lost one of her horns during this thrust. This horn was later known as the cornucopia. It kept filling up with what its owner wanted. Thanks to Amalthea's care, Zeus soon became so strong that he was able to oust the mighty Kronos from his throne. Thus Jupiter with a goat and the legend "The growing Jupiter" therefore are an appropriate type for an imperial successor. The type communicates the dawning of a golden age and styles Valerianus Junior as the son of the highest God and thereby defines his future role. The next logical step for me will be to find a decent Ant of Saloninus (Sestertii do exist, but the ones that come to the market are always on minimal flans, corroded and still expensive). It doubt that it will be easy to find one that matches the quality of this specimen as by the late 250s both silver content and quality control went down year by year. Let me know how you like it and show your Valerian IIs and goats! JG
Great example and portrait. Valerian II (256 - 258 A.D.) AR Antoninianus O: VALERIANVS CAES, Radiate and draped bust right. R: IOVI CRESCENNI, Infant Jupiter seated facing on goat (Amalthea) standing right,his right hand raised. Colonia Agrippinensis (Cologne) mint 4.34g 23mm RIC 3 RSC 26
Lovely coin JG and thanks for the write-up! Here's my Valerian II - a commemorative issue showing the deceased (likely murdered) Valerian ascending on the back of an eagle to wherever dead members of the Imperial family were meant to ascend to pre-Christianity. Unfortunately, there are bronze deposits on the reverse which I don't dare trying to remove.
Thanks for the kind comments and for showing your Valerian Juniors! The more I look around the more I am think that I made a good deal as I was the only bidder and for just 45 Euros got what might be one of the finest style portraits of Valerian Junior in existence. I found not a single better one on VCoins and the ones that do exist elsewhere are very costly (the one below made 350 CHF at NAC´s last auction). Most authors seem to agree that the young Caesar died of natural causes. As he seems to have been, according to his facial features on the coinage, probably no older than ten to twelve years, it is unlikely that he died from combat. If Valerian Junior was murdered, it would have post probably been by schemes of his guardian, the general Ingenuus, but that would appear unlikely (like a murder of Numerianus by Aper) as Ingenuus would wait another two years and only start his usurpation after the capture of Valerian Senior, a development that he could not have foreseen. Intererstingly Amalthea the goat also ascended to the heavens, as, after her death of old age, the grateful gods honored Zeus´ guardian by transforming her into Capella ("little goat"), the brightest star in the constellation of Auriga and one of the brightest in the night sky.
A very cool type and example you have here Valerian II, antoninianus - Cologne mint, AD 257-258 VALERIANVS CAES, radiate and draped bust of Valerian junior right IOVI CRESCENTI, Young Jupiter on back of goat Amalthea right 3.66 gr Ref : RCV # 10731, Cohen #26 Valerian II, Antoninianus - Rome mint, AD 258 DIVO CAES VALERIANO, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust of Valerianus junior right CONSECRATIO, altar 2.88 gr Ref : RCV # 10608, RIC # 24, RSC # 13 Q
It finally arrived with today´s mail so here it is closeup under my kitchen lamp That is a beautiful and high quality consecratio coin, Q! P.S.: Doesn´t it seem that mine and the NAC coin are from the very SAME DIES? Would that not be rather unlikely with Ants of the mid 3rd century due to the large output and number of dies that must have been used?
@dlhill132 has an excellent Valerian II, IOVI CRESCENTI. It is hard to find one that nice. I settled for a much weaker one that arrived today: Valerian II, 21-20 mm. 3.18 grams. P LIC VALERIANVS CAES IOVI CRESCENTI See the original post for the story.
Well, the portrait style is certainly a LOT better than mine: Rome mint, A.D. 253-255 Obv: P LIC VALERIANVS CAES Rev: IOVI CRESCENTI - Jupiter, blah, blah, blah RIC 13 20x23 mm, 4.3g.
That must be because just about every Caesar was shown as Princeps Iuventutis on his Coinage, but only Valerian II has the goat. Also, animals and children are always popular in advertising campaigns even nowadays That is an unusually sharp prince on the reverse of your coin, by the way!
