New Sestertius of Aemilianus - VOTIS DECENNALIBVS

My last coin of 2020 arrived on Christmas eve today. This was also the final Roman Emperor missing in my Sestertius collection.

After being the underbidder of the two VF specimens that appeared in auction this year (both with irregular flans / incomplete legends), I decided to go for this mid-priced specimen, which despite being well worn and very light, combines a roundish flan, readable legends, and my preferred tan tone.


IMP CAES AEMILIANVS P F AVG - laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust of Aemilian right
VOTIS DECENNA LIBVS SC in four lines within laurel wreath
Orichalcum Sestertius, Rome mint, struck ca. August 253 AD
29mm / 11,28 g
RIC IV 54a (RRR), Cohen 67, Hunter 25, Sear 9862, Banti 18 (23 specimens, same obverse die as illustrated)

Aemilius Aemilianus was the second Roman Emperor of African origin after Septimius Severus. He was born on the Island of Djerba (Tunisia) around 207 or 213 a.D. and has been described as a Moor and a Lybian.

During the joint reign of Trebonianus Gallus and his son Volusian (AD 251-253), Aemilian was serving as a commander in Moesia Inferior, where he oversaw the legions south of the Danube.
In the spring of 253 aD, he decided no longer to pay the tribute to the Goths who had defeated and killed the Emperors Trajan Decius and Herennius Etruscus in the battle of Abritus in AD 251 in the same province. After breaking the Gothic invasion led by the king Cniva, he directed a punitive expedition north of the Danube and led his troops to unexpected victories and much wealth in the process.

In July 253 his troops hailed Aemilian emperor against Gallus and Volusian. Aemilian marched into Italy along the Flaminian way with a limited force (as he could not have stripped Moesia of soldiers). Nevertheless, when the co-Emperors faced him at Terni in southern Umbria, their Army retreated and both Gallus and Volusian were killed by their own guard at the nearby city of Forum Flaminii. Aemilian was recognized by the Senate as the new emperor before he entered the city.

But his reign was doomed from the start, as the commander of the Roman legions “beyond the Alps” in Raetia, Publius Licinius Valerianus, as soon as he heard of Aemilian’s elevation, decided to move towards Italy and fight for the imperial power with an army that vastly outnumbered the force Aemilian had at his disposal.

When marching against Valerian on the Via Flaminia in September 253, Aemilian’s men understood they were outnumbered and half way between Rome and Spoleto chose to support Valerian instead. Aemilianus was executed on a bridge between Otricoli and Narnia called Pons Sanguinarius, ‘the sanguinary bridge’, after a rule that according to the Chronographer of 354 lasted only 88 days.

Aemilian´s roman coinage is far scarcer than that of Pertinax for example, who ruled for three months. There is a total of 4 Aurei of Aemilianus extant today while 479 Antoniniani are recorded from hoards. In the five relevant hoards including coins of Aemilian (Eauze, Dorchester, Rue, Cunetio and Landebaeron), these made up a mere 0,18 % of the contents of these finds, a number which seems to fit one month of reign rather than three. This suggests that Aemilian´s reported rule of three months was counted from the acclamation in Moesia and therefore includes Aemilian´s march to the battle with Gallus and Volusian which likely took one or even two month.

I took the biographical and numismatic info above mainly from Hadrien Rambach, "Notes on the gold coinage of Aemilian" (in Cercle d’études numismatiques, Volume 54, No.3, 2017).

Despite the short reign Aemilian´s Roman coinage can be divided into two separate issues according to their obverse legend.
The first emission, into which my Sestertius belongs, features the obverse legend IMP CAES AEMILIANVS PF, while the second, with IMP AEMILIANVS PIVS FEL AVG, gives prominence to the Pius Felix title.

As far as Sestertii are concerned, I observed that the first obverse is encountered six times as often as the second (6 : 1 of the specimens found in the Guelma hoard, corresponding perfectly to the 66 : 11 specimens listed by Banti)
If we suggest a total duration of coinage for Aemilian of six weeks, I therefore estimate the first emission to have lasted five weeks, while the second, which the mint would have chosen to be the final version, can´t have lasted much more than one week (even if we take into account the possibility of the continued use of older dies from the first emission). It may therefore only have started when Aemilian left town for the final battle and came to an abrupt halt once the news of his demise entered the city.

Sestertii of Aemilian from the Rome mint are much scarcer today than the bronzes struck at Viminacium in the name of “Provincia Dacia” (105 specimens of those listed in RPC).

The VOTIS DECENNALIBVS reverse was the only reverse type exclusively reserved for Sestertii in the first emission. In the case of Aemilian however the vow of a rule for "ten more years" must hold the title of the most unrealistic vow ever issued on a roman coin.

This might be only the second Sestertius of this ruler posted here on CT so far but please let me know if you have any doubts about it´s authenticity. The slightly concave reverse lacks sharp details while on the other hand the obverse letters seem right to me and the edges of the slight die break are very crisp.

Please show your coins of Aemilian or anything related, share your thoughts, and enjoy happy holidays despite these troubled times!

 

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I think your description and knowledge are wonderful.
Regards

 

The coin looks OK to me. Great addition and someone I lack & will for some time.

 

Congratulations, that’s a rare coin to own.
I’m glad I bought Aemilian 12 years ago.



Aemilian. 253 AD. AR Antoninianus (3.08 gm).

Obverse: Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Reverse: PACI AVG Pax standing, legs crossed, holding olive branch and transverse sceptre, resting on column.
Reference: RIC IV 8; RSC 26.
Diameter: 20mm Weight: 3.63g. Conservation: aVF

 

Nice catch @Julius Germanicus . We don't see these Sestertii very often, and and don't remember seeing the Dupondius with the same reverse (RIC 54b). I believe a part of his coinage was struck at an "uncertain mint". Is this place now known ?
Here is my antoniniani from the same guy :


Aemilian Rome
IMP CAES AEMILIANVS PF AVG / VICTORIA AVG
RIC 21 4.06g 21mm

 

..that's a WOW coin...i'm afraid im with @Mat on this dude and it will be some time before he gets in my collection...

 

Rare sestertius and excellent write up

My antoninianus and its ugly picture (I definitely need to reshoot that one...)


Aemilian, Antoninianus - Rome mint, AD 253
IMP CAES AEMILIANVS P F AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind
SPES PVBLICA, Spes standing left, holding flower and lifting skirt
3.70 gr
Ref : RCV # 9844, RIC # 20, Cohen # 48
Ex Alwin collection

Q

 

A good find . Here's mine - looking a little worried ?


Aemilian, 253 Antoninianus circa 253, AR 23mm., 3.65g.

Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust r.

. Victory advancing l., holding wreath and palm frond. C 52. RIC 21.

 

Exquisite addition to complete your set!

No one has posted Cornelia Supera:


Cornelia Supera, wife of Aemelian, Augusta, 253 CE.
Roman provincial Æ 20.5mm, 3.78 g, 7 h.
Mysia, Parium, AD 253.
Obv: G CORN SUPERA, diademed and draped bust right.
Rev: C. G. I. H. P., Capricorn right, cornucopiae on back; globe between legs (Sear describes as a star, but this appears to be a globe).
Refs: SGI 4408 (var.); SNG Von Aulock 7448.

 

Great write up Julius, thanks

Dont own an Aemilian , but do have the 3 other emperors in your write up:



and the winner of this struggle for power:

 

Thanks for the excellent writeup, @Julius Germanicus , and such a GREAT find of a coin! Very nice, and congrats on this hard-to-find beauty.

I have a common version from Viminacium, but it is fun to have a coin of this rather short reigned Emperor. (Kinda hard to call him Imperator when he is killed in the field!)

AEMILIANUS


RI
Aemilianus
253 CE
AE24
Viminacium mint
Rev: P M S COL VIII;Moesia standing, looking left between bull and lion, AN XI - Damnatio Memoriae (eye and neck slashed)
Comments: (John provided)
Aemilian was a powerful general who defeated invading Goths and got himself proclaimed emperor by his troops. He marched on Rome and defeated Trebonianus Gallus, but when Valerian came at him with a much larger army, Aemilian's soldiers mutinied and assassinated him. He reigned all of three months in AD 253.
His short reign makes him one of the challenging slots in an emperor set, which is probably exacerbated by the fact that a damnatio memoriae was issued against him. Likely many of his already scarce issues were destroyed.
Aemilianus, 253. Bronze, Viminacium in Moesien. Büste / Weibliche Gestalt zwischen Stier und Löwe. Pick, Dacien & Moesien I, 1, S. 57, g.; Grünbraune Patina Selten Sehr schön
Ex: @John Anthony

 

Nice new coin. I have been looking for an ant of his in high quality. Have yet to procure one though.

 

Julius G.,

Your sestertius looks authentic to me, and the portrait indeed looks like Aemilian, but I suspect some tooling of the obv. legend.

You write that Banti illustrates a spec. from the same obv. die. How closely do the letter shapes and positions on the two coins match up? Minor strengthening of the original legend might be acceptable, but I wouldn't recommend keeping the coin if any letters have been moved or entirely invented.

 

Here is the seller´s pic of the obverse of my coin and the Banti Aemilian No.18 plate coin (Gnecchi collection):




I would say that at least the "A"s are shaped differently. Are they die matches at all?

There seems to have been a comparatively large number of Sestertius dies used for Aemilian (for such a short reign and considering the relatively few surviving specimens), but the laurel wreath is rarely seen pointing towards the "L" like on these two coins.

 

I believe it is the same obv. die, and the tooling is not bad. I could see retaining the coin, in the hope of upgrading and reselling it later; or return it now if you can, and save yourself the trouble of having to resell.

 

Thank you everybody for your comments and coin pictures!!! I also have an Ant of Aemilianus which has a better portrait than my new addition, but then Sestertii are what I collect:



IMP AEMILIANVS PIVS FEL AVG - Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust of Aemilianus right with his right shoulder advanced
PACI AVG - Pax standing facing, head left, legs crossed, holing olive-tranche and transverse scepter and resting on column
Antoninianus, Rome mint, ca. September 253 A.D.
RIC 8, RSC 26, Hunter 13, Sear 9838

My first Sestertius of Aemilian was this cast copy:

The same overse die was also coupled with one reverse die with PM TR P I PP:

Despite being high grade, these Sestertii suffer from malformed flans like most bronzes of Aemilian. Mine is so far the only coin from this obverse die that actually has a complete legend so we will never be able to check the other letters.

I´ll keep mine because because it suits my "need" and I doubt I will find a better one for the price. I am fine with a couple of re-engraved letters because the alternative would be no letters at all . Perfect Sestertii of Aemilian do not seem to exist, but I do like the sharp portraits on these two here!!!