An unusual consecration coinage - DIVO VICTORINO PIO

This coin had earned a spot on my Top 10 list of 2020, though I only received it a few days ago; the flan it was struck on is not the best, and as a result it's missing a good portion of the legends, but the black patina looks great in hand and the details on both sides are great, due to an unusually good strike for this issue. I was really looking forward to receiving it, as it's something quite historical and unusual, when compared to the standard issues of that time period:

Victorinus (268-270), Antoninianus, Colonia Agrippina mint.
Obverse: DIVO VICTORINO PIO, radiate head right;
Reverse: PROVIDENTIA AVG, Providentia standing left, holding baton and cornucopia;
RIC 88

Marcus Piavonius Victorinus was one of the ephemeral emperors of the breakaway state known as the Gallic Empire; hailing from an important family, he had occupied many important offices under Postumus, and he had managed to obtain the purple after eliminating Marius, who had been acclaimed emperor by the soldiers after killing Postumus at Mogontiacum. Despite his apparent popularity and his military success in the siege of Augustodunum, however, Victorinus perished after a short reign - according to the unreliable Historia Augusta, by the hand of an officer whose wife had been seduced by the emperor. It appears that the murder was followed by a brief period of instability which ended with the rise to the throne of Tetricus I, and it's during this timeframe that the consecrationg coinage was struck, likely to win over the troops loyal to the previous emperor.

The issue itself seems to have been quite small, though it features a little more variety than the other consecration coins of that era: firstly, there are two bust types, the radiate head (like in my example), and the far rarer cuirassed bust:

(Photo courtesy of CNG)

Secondly, there are three different reverse types, the expected CONSACRATIO as well as PROVIDENTIA AVG and SALVS AVG, which should normally be found only on lifetime issues - I wonder if they were used due to a shortage of the CONSACRATIO reverse dies. The last of the three is by far the rarest:

(Photo courtesy of Numismatik Naumann)

Anyway, that's all for now. Post your coins of Victorinus, your consecration coins or anything else you feel like might be relevant.

 

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Great post and coin, @Claudius_Gothicus, I haven’t come across many of these, that’s a very interesting type.

Just curious (if anyone knows), how did an emperor become “deified” in the Gallic Empire? Was there a Senate, would it just be proclaimed by the next ruler, or something else?

I can share this Victorinus ant and a Consecration issue of the ruler of that other nearby Empire at the time.


Victorinus, Antoninianus, 269-270 AD, BI (22 mm, 3.90 g.), Radiate and cuirassed bust r./Rev. PIETAS AVG Pietas, veiled, standing l. sacrificing out of patera over altar at her feet. RIC 57. NAC 2020 Spring Auction


Claudius II Gothicus (Died 270). Antoninianus. Rome. (22mm, 2.92g), Obv: DIVO CLAVDIO, Radiate bust right/ Rev: CONSECRATIO, Altar. RIC V 1275

 

Great coins, @Claudius_Gothicus

VICTORINUS


RI Victorinus 269-270 CE BI Ant Gallic Empire PAX
Ex: Holding History


CONSECRATIO


RI Carus 282-283 CE AE 18mm BI Tet Consecratio Flaming Alter Divus Carus under Carinus R2
Ex: @Valentinian

 

The Gallic Empire imitated the central empire in a lot of ways, as they also had a Senate, consuls and tribunes; however, there are very few writings on them and I believe they are considered to have been mostly ceremonial offices. Since Victorinus was the only Gallic emperor to be defied, I'm guessing it was an independent decision by Tetricus, possibly under the influence of Victorinus' powerful mother Victoria, who survived her son and reportedly helped Tetricus obtain the throne.

Thanks, though I'm not sure if you're right in saying "coins" - only the first one is actually mine, I only put in the other two as a reference.

 

Wow, I never knew the Gallic emperors issued any CONSECRATIO coins. This is Way Cool! @Claudius_Gothicus, to your later point, the already anachronistically high silver content of Postumus' initial antoniniani, along with his remarkable multiple sestertii, evoke a polity which didn't just imitate the central empire, but which aspired to return to earlier standards, at least monetarily. Thanks for the post!
...And what is it with the flans on that many Gallic antoniniani, starting the ones of Victorinus himself?

 

Thanks! Interesting that Victorinus was was the only Gallic empire to be deified...it would be fun to own a posthumous Postumus issue.

 

I believe the deification of Victorinus has a lot to do with the influence of his mother and the fact that he was killed not by a rival for the throne but by a husband of one of his seductions (It seems this was a favorite practice of Victorinus). The DIVO coins allowed the mint to continue operation while they figured out who the next emperor would be.

I have shown mine here several times before. It is the same type as the OP coin.

 

Very nice coin and write-up @Claudius_Gothicus . Victorinus is the emperor I'm trying to complete the "full" collection. I just missed a similar example as yours in the Roma auction of last week: estimated at a (very) low price of 50 GBP, it went for 550 GBP ! You have the "radiate head right" version, but it also exists the rarer "radiate and cuirassed"( bust B), rated R4 by H.Joachim Schulzki in his AGK and a "laureate with traces of drapery to front of truncation". RIC is kind of obsolete for the Gallic Empire rulers, so the latest attribution of your coin should be Mairat 883: (Cunetio 2632, only 1 specimen in the hoard)



About the SALVS AVG version, it is in fact an Hybrid. Others can also be found with the Eagle reverse but the obverse IMP C VICTORINVS PF AVG.

It is also interesting to notice that the last emission (the 5th) of the mint of Colonia Agrippina was a PROVIDENTIA AVG reverse. It was the only reverse struck there because Victorinus was killed shortly after that.


Colonia Agrippina 5th emission 271AD

And here is also another Consecratio issue in my collection:



DIVO VICTORINO P(I)O / CONSECRATIO
Mairat 886. Cunetio 2633 Elmer 785