Recent purchase arrived yesterday; purchased unidentified from a trusted ebayer Gallic Empire Tetricus II as Augustus Mid/late 274? Obv: ...TETRICUS PF AVG, beardless, radiate bust right Rev: ... AVG, Pax or Virtus(?) Standing, holding scepter RIC 251? Almost certainly barbarous Tetricus II was the young son of the Gallic emperor Tetricus I, who ascended to the throne in 271. Probably owing to the precarious situation during the crumbling and final collapse of the Gallic domains, Tetricus II was raised to Caesar in 273 and held his first consulship in 274, presumably preparing him to rise to the rank of Augustus the following year. This never happened, as Tetricus I was defeated and surrendered to Aurelian in the fall of 274. Father and son were spared, and may have retired to obscurity--though the Historia Augusta claims the young Tetricus went on to become a senator in the reunified empire. The only indication that the young Tetricus II may have served as Gallic emperor comes only from coins. Barbarous issues of Tetricus II are very scarce, but a few have all the hallmarks of an official coin. Such a move would have been prudent for a father about to go off to a war he was certain he would lose - a Caesar would almost certainly be murdered, but an Augustus may be able to rally the troops' loyalty and at least negotiate a fair surrender. What really happened is anyone's guess. These were dark times for the Roman empire. Post your coins and comments! I would love to see more of these unusual coins if anyone out there has one.
Here are a few I pulled out of the bag. Some are as 'Augustus', others as Caesar. Everything in the right of the photo seems to be Tetricus I, maybe a Victorinus or two:
Interesting one, @Finn235 ! It's exciting to see a Tetricus II without a Spes reverse. Here's my most photogenic Tetricus II:
Here's my Tetricus II as Augustus. Almost certainly a barbarous imitation as well... but still, finding a TII with an obverse legend ending in "AVG" rather than "CAES" is interesting. Tetricus II Ob: C PIV [ESV TETRICVS A]VG R: [P]AX AG[G?] Pax? Laetitia? Salus? standing left, holding wreath or patera and anchor.
Tetricus II, as Caesar: Bronze Antoninianus Gallic Empire, unidentified southern mint Obv: C PIV ESV TETRICVS CAES Rev: SPES AVG - Spes, walking left, holding flower and raising robe RIC 270 20x18mm, 2.5g. Tetricus II, as Jar Jar Binks: Barbarous Bronze Antoninianus Unidentified mint. Obv: Elvin-like radiate bust of (probably) Tetricus II. Rev: Sol, radiate, nude except for chlamys on shoulder, advancing left, raising right hand and possibly holding whip in left. X in left field, unknown symbol in right. 13mm, 0.8g.
The OP coin looks barbarous to me either, nice find though As for the two I own, I would say the first to be official and the second barbarous, but I might be wrong Tetricus II, Antoninianus C PIV [ESV TETRIC]VS CAES, Radiate and draped bust right COMES AVG, Comes standing left 1.91 gr Ref : Cohen # 6 Tetricus II, Antoninianus minted AD 273-274 C PIVS ESV TETRICVS CAES, Radiate bust of Tetricus right [SP]ES AV[GG], Spes standing left holding her dress and a flower 2.8 gr Ref : RCV #11292, Cohen #88 Q
I knew I had something for you Steve, here is my Tetricus Sr with a Jr looking portrait with a good quality beard.
Nice coins all! I can't seem to locate it at the moment, but there is at least one known Tetricus II that the current scholarly consensus is on it probably being official.
