My Claudius II "White Whale" & the origins of the consular bust

Every numismatist has at least one "white whale", a coin that is very significant for his collection but also happens to be incredibly challenging to find; in my case, as somebody who is mainly interested in Claudius II, said coins happen to be the more special and unusual bust types, of which this emperor has a surprisingly large variety that could almost rival that of Probus, though almost all of them are extremely rare, especially in nice conditions, so when they seldomly come up for sale they also attract plenty of non-specialists; due to this, I was convinced that I wouldn't manage to acquire any of them, at least for the foreseeable future. However, that all changed last month, when I surprisingly managed to harpoon my biggest "white whale" after almost one year of hunting:


Roman Empire, Claudius II (268-270), Antoninianus, Mediolanum mint.
Obverse: IMP CLAVDIVS P F AVG, radiate bust left, wearing trabea, holding Victory on globe in right hand and scipio in left hand;
Reverse: PA-X A-VG, Pax running left, holding olive branch in right hand and transverse sceptre in left hand, T in exergue;
RIC V - (c.f. RIC V 157); RIC V Online 46; Huvelin 1980, 10; Toffanin 311/4;

My hunt for a consular antoninianus of Claudius II began in January of this year (to be honest, even though I'm incredibly excited to own this coin, I must admit that I am slightly disappointed that the "hunt" was so short, since I thought I would have to wait far longer to obtain one of this type - let's see if I am this lucky with my other "unobtainable" targets as well ), when I was seriously considering buying a very worn and damaged example (which, at the time, I considered the second known example - I've since discovered another one besides mine, for a total of four) being sold by CGB, but somebody else snatched it before I could; I thought I would never get another shot at obtaining an example, and yet, last month, I noticed at auction this coin of the same exact type and, even more surprisingly, I ended up paying it less than the CGB example, despite being in far better condition! I'm quite confident that this will qualify as my best purchase of the year.

The types

Since I have already mentioned those other examples, let's start this thread by discussing the dies used to strike these coins, before moving on to their iconography and their historical importance: the consular bust was used for Claudius II only at the Mediolanum mint, only during the second emission, and only by the second and third officinae; each one only used one obverse die, and while the second officina paired it with the reverses AEQVITAS AVG (RIC V Online 43, one example known) and FIDES MILIT (RIC V Online 44, five examples known), the third one only used it with PAX AVG (RIC V Online 46, four examples known). Here's a sampling of one example each of the two types I don't own:


(Image courtesy of RIC V Online)


(Image courtesy of Classical Numismatic Group)

If you look closely, however, you will notice that the two officinae didn't simply use different obverse die, but different bust types! While on the second officina's version the globe isn't surmounted by anything, on the other one it is topped by a small figure of Victory, though RIC V Online doesn't recognize this distinction, as the only example they had access to was too damaged - unfortunately, since the project has been inactive for a few years by now, modifying this is no longer possible. Here's photos of the three other examples of this type, as well as mine, to show you the presence of the small Victory on globe as well as the other similarities between the dies:


(Image courtesy of RIC V Online)


(Image courtesy of cgbfr.com)


(Sold on Ebay a few years ago, original source unknown, kindly provided to me by @Victor_Clark)


(My example)

The iconography

During the Republican period, the consulship was the most prestigious office somebody could aspire to, with the first consuls having been, according to legend, none other than Brutus and Collatinus, who had ended the tyrannical rule of Tarquinius. By the time of the third century, while the position had lost most of its effective power, its prestige was untarnished, as it was still an important milestone for any man climbing the cursus honorum: the emperor customarily assumed a consulship on his rise to the throne, but then renewed it only seldomly, in contrast to his Tribunicia Potestas, allowing senators to hold the office instead, and giving them the feeling of still being important in an empire where their influence had been steadily declining for years.

The defining attributes of the consulship were two: the first one was the trabea, which was composed of a toga picta, painted with the very expensive and sought after Tyrian purple, covered by a tunica palmata, which, as the name implies, was decorated by small palms, as can be seen on the coins - a particularly nice depiction can be seen on a denarius of Augustus:


(Image courtesy of Classical Numismatic Group)

The second symbol of the office was the scipio, an ivory sceptre surmounted by an eagle, the icon of imperial power, sometimes holding a wreath in its beak. In certain cases the engravers also added other attributes to the emperor's portrait, such as this case, where he is holding a globe surmounted by Victory as a representation of Roman rule over the world - as we shall soon see, this was not a characteristis of the bust introduced by Gallienus, but a new innovation under Claudius II which doesn't appear to have caught on, as future appearances of the bust will usually lack the globe.

The historical context

While, as you've just seen, consular attributes had been used on Roman coins many times in the centuries before, the consular bust as we commonly know it first appeared on some medallions of Severus Alexander, as far as I know, and it continued to be used for some of the ones struck for Gordian III, Gallus and Volusian, for example, though they are so rare that I was unable to find any pictures on the internet. To see this bust appear on circulating coins we have to wait for the sole reign of Gallienus, when, under him, the mints of Rome, Milan and Siscia introduced an incredible variety of unique and unusual bust types, to emphasize and reaffirm the authority and the power of the emperor, something which was greatly needed in the tumultuos times of the Crisis of the Third Century.

The consular bust was used in occasion of the fifth (fourth emission, 262 AD), the sixth (fifth emission, 264 AD) and the seventh (sixth emission, 266 AD) consulships of Gallienus, and in rare cases they also mention it in the obverse legend. The only consular Gallienus I own (it hasn't arrived yet, so I'll use the auction house's photo) is from the sixth consulship and has the standard short legend, so for comparison I'll also post one with the longer legend from the fifth consulship:


Roman Empire, Gallienus (253-268), Antoninianus, Mediolanum mint.
Obverse: GALLIENVS P F AVG, radiate bust left, wearing trabea, holding scipio in right hand;
Reverse: PA-X AVG, Pax running left, holding olive branch in right hand and transverse sceptre in left hand, S in left field;
RIC V - (c.f. RIC V 501); MIR 1225; Toffanin 207/7;


(Image courtesy of Classical Numismatic Group)

Gallienus clearly placed particular importance on the celebration of his consulship, as we can infer from the fact that this bust, without the sceptre or other attributes, was also used at Rome, and rare gold multiples, medallions and antoniniani featuring consular processions on the reverse were struck at several mints; it makes sense to assume that it was another way to use coinage as propaganda to legitimize his rule.

After this considerable output, it thus makes sense that this bust type continued to be used at this mint for his successor, though, considering their great rarity, one has to wonder whether they were distributed at some special event or given to certain prestigious people rather than being normally put into circulation. Mediolanum would not strike it for either Quintillus or Aurelian, however, and the latter proceeded to eventually cease operations there and move them to Ticinum. The consular bust, however, did not disappear, but thrived for many more years, mainly under Probus, as we certainly all know, as well as Diocletian and his co-emperors, and Constantine and his sons, though some minor rulers like Tacitus, Numerian and Carinus used it as well. Finally, after a long hiatus during which it was only seldomly used for gold issues, it reappeared under Maurice Tiberius in the Byzantine Empire, and left the numismatic record for good under Philippicus Bardanes.

Conclusions

I really love consular busts due to their detail as well as the fact that they usually allow us to very precisely date the issues they belong to, and I think they would make for a great specialized subset of a collection. I'm especially thrilled to have obtained an important rarity that I used to consider impossible to find - it also made me go and acquire Toffanin's excellent reference book on the output of the Mediolanum mint in ancient times, which is certainly going to prove very useful in my future collecting endeavours:



That's all for now; post your antoniniani of Claudius II, your coins from Mediolanum, your coins related to the consulship, or anything else you feel like might be relevant !

Sources:
- RIC V Online;
- Alessandro Toffanin, La zecca di Milano dalle origini a Desiderio, re dei Longobardi (IV sec. a.C - 774 d.C);
- Jean-Marc Doyen, Impérialisme et iconographie impériale : une approche sémiologique de l’atelier monétaire de Milan (259-274 après J.-C.);
- Jean-Marc Doyen, L'atelier de Milan (258 - 268). Recherches sur la chronologie et la politique monétaire des empereurs Valérien et Gallien (253 - 268), thèse de doctorat en Archéologie et Histoire de l'Art, Université catholique de Louvain, 1989;
- Jean-Marc Doyen, La création des types iconographiques romains tardifs. A propos d’une émission exceptionnelle frappée à Milan en l’honneur de Gallien;
- Helene Huvelin, Deux émissions exceptionnelles frappées à Milan en l'honneur de Claude II le Gothique;

 

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A wonderful type congratulations on your successful hunt.

 

Congratulations on achieving a collection goal! Nice example, too! And what an informative and interesting write up!



I have only one Claudius II from Mediolanum and it's from an uncleaned lot. It's not the most photogenic thing in my collection.


Claudius II Gothicus, AD 268-270.
Roman billon antoninianus, 1.95 g, 17.4 mm, 12h.
Mediolanum, third officina, issue 3, spring – c. end of August 270.
Obv: IMP CLAVDIVS P F AVG, radiate head, right.
Rev: CONCORD EXER, Concordia standing left, holding standard in right hand and cornucopiae in left hand; T in exergue.
Refs: MER/RIC temp 92, RIC 141, Cohen 35; RCV 11322 var. (rev. legend).

 

MORE MAIORVM :

 

Some of mine Claudius II Gothicus from Mediolanum:
Providentia

Victory

Felicitas

 

Fabulous coin, well spotted!! I think you left out an important detail about your acquiring it, though... that you found it hidden in a group lot. There's nothing quite as satisfying as snagging a white whale for a bargain due to one's specialist eagle eyes! You rockl!

Great writeup too, I didn't know all those details about the consular regalia. (A "scipio"! How cool is that?)

I recently acquired a Claudius II from Milan, same type as one that @gogili1977 shows above:

I especially wanted a first issue from the mint, as this is where Gallienus was assassinated and CII named emperor. Do you think CII had a hand in his predecessor's death?

Here's a common Probus consular bust, Ticinum mint:


And why would I post this Justinian?

Because it was issued in 541/2, and 541 was the last year in which a consul was appointed. After that the office was merged with the emperor's. As you mention, some later Byzantine coins make use of aspects of the consular bust. Here's an example, from Tiberius II Constantine:

The "scipio" on the right is very prominent! On the other side he is holding a mappa; according to David Sear, the mappa was "originally the white napkin dropped by an emperor or magistrate as a starting signal at the Circus, in late Roman iconography it came to be a used as one of the principal attributes of the consuls."

 

Wow, that is a fantastic coin!!! Congratulations.


This is my nicest Claudius II bust type, a heroic bust with shield and spear.



And another heroic bust with aegis:

 

White whale goes with white hair : you're too young for white whales @Claudius_Gothicus !!!

Kidding aside, that's a fantastic acquisition, and, as usual, your write up is top notch.

I'm currently awaiting a Claudius II coin that I can't show yet (the gods of postage are very ticklish about not showing before parcels are delivered ). Instead here are my two others


Cyzicus mint, AD 269.
IMP CLAVDIUS P F AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
VICTORIAE GOTHIC, Two captives leaning besides a trophy.
3.08 gr
Ref : RCV # 11381; RIC V pt. 1 # 252; Cohen # 308
This antoninianus comemorates Claudius II' victory against Goths at Naissus, thus becoming "Gothicus"



Mediolanum mint, 1st officina, AD 268-270
IMP CLAVDIVS P F AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind.
PROVID AVG, Providentia standing left, holding globe and cornucopiae. P at exergue
5.30 gr 18-21 mm
Ref : RIC V, Part 1, 163, RCV # 11361

Q

 

Great write up, very interesting. Although I don’t have one, I didn’t realize how rare they were. While I don’t have a consular bust from Milan, I do have a fair number of coins from the mint. Here are a few that I have photographed (too darkly).

 

My fourree is not as high end as the CNG coin but the eagle stayed on flan.

 

That's actually an interesting comparison! While I couldn't find anything specific on the internet, I do have to wonder whether the Papal regalia was at least somewhat inspired by the Roman consular attire.

Thanks! You're right, I did leave out that it came from a group lot - both because I didn't think it was the most important detail, and also because I didn't want somebody to think I was making it up - finding a coin this rare is already very hard, but discovering it in a group lot of a relatively mainstream auction ? Then again, @Finn235 once managed to score a portrait coin of Varus at an incredible price, so I guess everything can happen.

Your coins are all very nice as well ! I especially like those Byzantines - the Justinian from 541 is historically important, and the Tiberius is cool for its reelaboration of the consular attire - I would have posted a consular Bardanes as well, as a closing image to the thread, but unfortunately I happened to hit the image limit.

As for the most important question, the one regarding the death of Gallienus, it's a complicated issue that I've been thinking about for quite a while, and I've read the few available sources; here's my summary:
- Aurelius Victor completely exonerates Claudius II, saying that the dying Gallienus had nominated him his successor, and claims that the conspiracy to kill the emperor had actually been orchestrated by the besieged Aureolus and unknowingly enacted by a group of officers, including Aurelian, who had been given a fake list of people that Gallienus had condemned to death;
- The Epitome de Caesaribus claims that Gallienus was murdered by his troops, instigated by Aureolus, but doesn't mention any names;
- Zosimus doesn't implicate Aureolus and claims that the murder, which happened during a banquet, had been orchestrated by their own initiative by Heraclianus, Claudius and an unnamed cavalry commander;
- Zonaras mentions that Gallienus was killed after having sallied out of the camp, having been told that Aureolus was attacking, and he blames Heraclianus and Aurelian, with Claudius knowing about the conspiracy and allowing it to unfold;
- Finally, the Historia Augusta is the most radically different one, as it blames Heraclianus, Marcianus and Cecropius, otherwise unattested, though the trap is the same as in Zonaras' account, and Claudius and Aurelian are obviously innocent;

What do I think? Personally, I believe that the history of the forged letter of Aureolus is an invention by later historians based on the similar trap that was used to kill Aurelian a few years later, created as a way to exonerate the man claimed to be Constantine's ancestor; in my opinion, the conspiracy was independently organized by the officers, who were unsatisfied with both the military situation as well as Gallienus' (failed) dynastic policy which, had it succeeded, would have cut off the generals from the succession to the throne. As for Claudius, while it's almost certain that he was not present, he probably had been informed about the plot, at the very least.

Thanks, your coins are great too! I'm even a little bit jealous, as assembling a bust type set of the VICTORIAE GOTHIC reverse is high on my watchlist - hopefully I'll manage to acquire these types as well, eventually.

Nice coins @Cucumbor! I think it's never too early to start chasing white whales, though, because it's always nice to have a little bit of a headstart .

Thank you! That's an excellent selection of Mediolanum issues. So far this is my only Claudius II from this mint, but I'm making sure that this will change soon .

 

I was an underbidder on that.

 

Not sure if it is legal, but we should create a bidding-interest coordination site, to reduce competing bids and prices

 

No hard feelings, I knew it was going to peak the interest of many, it is probably the best specimen of the type ever preserved.

 

Excellent coin and write up @Claudius_Gothicus . Your level of study into your coins is a great thing to see.

I find it interesting that the emperors didn’t choose to celebrate their association with the consulship on their bust types until the title was long since empty.

Here is a coin of Claudius Gothicus...

Roman Empire
Claudius II Gothicus (AD 268-270)
BI Antoninianus, Cyzicus mint
Obv.: IMP C M AVR CLAVDIVS AVG; Radiate, draped bust right
Rev.: FORTVNA REDVX; Fortuna standing left holding rudder and cornucopia
Ref.: RIC V:I 233 var. (Bust right not in RIC)
Ex JAZ Numismatics

...and, because I never get tired of showing it, here is a coin with a consul... doing consul things.

Roman Republic
M. Junius Brutus
AR Denarius, Rome mint, struck 54 BC
Dia.: 20.5 mm
Wt.: 3.56 g
Obv.: LIBERTAS; Head of Liberty right
Rev.: BRVTVS; Consul L. Junius Brutus walking left between two lictors, each carrying fasces over shoulder, preceded by accensus
Ref.: Crawford 433/1, Sydenham 906, Sear 397
Ex Michael Kelly Collection