I'm quite excited to have recently acquired this extremely rare Titus As, perhaps struck while the dust was still settling from the Vesuvian eruption of 79 AD. Titus Æ As, 8.70g Rome mint, 79 AD RIC 70 (R2). BMC p. 253 note. BNC -. Obv: IMP T CAES VESP AVG P M TR P COS VII; Head of Titus, laureate, bearded, r. Rev: PAX AVGVST; S C in field; Pax stg. l., leaning on column, with caduceus and branch Acquired from Münzen & Medaillen, September 2019. Titus' first issues of bronze as Augustus struck in 79, dated COS VII, are all very rare. They were produced sometime during the last six months of the year after his rise to purple at the end of June, presumably in very modest numbers based on the meagre specimens that have survived antiquity. This As from that scanty issue features the familiar Pax and column type, likely based on a familiar cult image of the deity. Pax is holding a caduceus, an allusion to the peaceful prosperity credited to the emperor. Missing from both the London and Paris collections. Aside from the rarity, I was quite attracted by the olive green patina and bold legends despite the wear. I would be interested to see any coins you may have that were struck during a time of crisis - be that natural, political, or man-made.
Here's a coin struck in a time of crisis. A 9 siliqua or 1.5 scripulum piece, which is a small gold fraction struck in the late Empire. It was struck sometime between 367-375, which is during the reigns of Valentinian and Valens. What's interesting about this coin is the reverse, which reads PAX PERPETVA or Perpetual Peace. The only two other Emperors to have claimed to have established perpetual peace were Augustus and Constantine the Great. Perpetual war was deemed more appropriate for the reign of Valentinian and Valens as they were continually engaged in fighting battles against the barbarian tribes. The Dictionary of Roman Coins even suggests that BELLO PERPETVO or Perpetual War would have been more appropriate.
Very cool, @David Atherton , and a rarity, too. I love it when I acquire coins that have evaded the British Museum or BnF collections! This antoninianus of Trebonianus Gallus' (AD 251-253) was struck in autumn, AD 251, and likely alludes to a serious crisis that befell the Roman empire that year -- the so-called Cyprian plague. The Cyprian plague erupted in Ethiopia around Easter of AD 250. It reached Rome in the following year, eventually spreading to Greece and further east to Syria. The plague lasted nearly 20 years and, at its height, reportedly killed as many as 5,000 people per day in Rome. The outbreak claimed the lives of two emperors: Hostilian in AD 251 and Claudius II Gothicus in 270. Although the etiologic agent of the illness has not been determined by medical historians or paleopathologists, recent work by University of Oklahoma historian Kyle Harper (See here and here) sheds some light. Harper, in the absence of microbiological evidence, examined 23 contemporary textual references to the pestilence and concludes it was due to an ebola-like viral illness. Our very own @Magnus Maximus wrote an interesting article about it here at CT earlier this year. The families of Trajan Decius and Trebonianus Gallus were intertwined. After Decius' death in battle against the Goths in June, AD 251, the troops elevated Gallus (the governor of Moesia) to the throne. Trebonianus Gallus elevated Decius' son, Hostilian to Augustus, making the boy co-emperor, while giving the lower-ranking title of Caesar to his own son, Volusian. Moreover, Volusian wed Hostilian's sister, further strengthening the ties between Gallus and the late emperor Decius. Mattingly and Sydenham (RIC 4 III, p. 154) believe this coin was struck shortly after Hostilian died of the plague in the late summer of AD 251. Its reverse inscription reads APOLL. SALVTARI (Apollini salutari) in the dative case: "to Apollo the healer." Trebonianus Gallus, AD 251-253. Roman AR antoninianus, 3.60 g, 19.2 mm, 6 h. Rome, 2nd emission, late AD 251. Obv: IMP CAE C VIB TREB GALLVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust, right. Rev: APOLL SALVTARI, Apollo standing left, holding branch with right hand and resting left hand on lyre set on rock. Refs: RIC 32; Cohen/RSC 20; RCV 9627; Hunter 21.
Interesting coins and catastrophes. Here's a ghastly Trebonianus Gallus SALVTARI Apollo, the sestertius version. Looks like a disgruntled somebody went after TG's face with a chisel. Trebonianus Gallus Æ Sestertius - Rome Mint (253 A.D.) IMP CAE C VIB TREB GALLVS AVG, laureate, cuirassed draped bust right / APOLLO SALVTARI S-C, Apollo naked standing left, holding branch & resting hand on lyre set on a rock. RIC 104b. (17.15 grams / 27 mm)
