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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;John Anthony, post: 2607100, member: 42773&quot;]I&#039;m spending the afternoon imaging some coins from a large consignment. Just thought I&#039;d share...</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postumus" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postumus" rel="nofollow">Postumus</a> double sestertius, Laetitia. If you&#039;re unfamiliar with these coins, they were struck in the early years of the Gallic Empire, and were typically <i>overstruck</i> on older sestertii. So they often have weak strikes that don&#039;t render all the detail and rough surfaces. This one is pretty good for the type - large, with a glossy black patina...</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center">[ATTACH=full]569998[/ATTACH]</p><p><i><font size="4"><br /></font></i></p><p><i><font size="4">Though Postumus relied on his army to stay in power, the safety of the provinces was not solely an army matter, for the coasts required protection also, and so it is reasonable that his navy deserved mention on the coinage. The issues which couple the reverse legends FELICITAS and LAETITIA with scenes of a galley probably show that the emperor by no means neglected his navy, and perhaps that it achieved success. The type of galley depicted on the reverse of the present coin could be a navis lusoria, which was a type of a small military vessel of the late Roman Empire that served as a troop transport. It was smaller and narrower than similar earlier vessels, and ideally suited to the rivers close to the Limes Germanicus; the presence of this type of vessel in the Classis Germanica is shown through the discovery of the Mainz Roman ships in 1981-2, thus proving that they operated on the Rhine and Danube. </font></i><font size="4">-Roma Numismatics</font>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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