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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Claudius_Gothicus, post: 6363309, member: 116315&quot;]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&#039;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&#039;s something quite historical and unusual, when compared to the standard issues of that time period:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1251904[/ATTACH]</p><p>Victorinus (268-270), Antoninianus, Colonia Agrippina mint.</p><p>Obverse: DIVO VICTORINO PIO, radiate head right;</p><p>Reverse: PROVIDENTIA AVG, Providentia standing left, holding baton and cornucopia;</p><p>RIC 88</p><p><br /></p><p>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&#039;s during this timeframe that the consecrationg coinage was struck, likely to win over the troops loyal to the previous emperor.</p><p><br /></p><p>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:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1251913[/ATTACH]</p><p>(Photo courtesy of CNG)</p><p><br /></p><p>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:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1251914[/ATTACH]</p><p>(Photo courtesy of Numismatik Naumann)</p><p><br /></p><p>Anyway, that&#039;s all for now. Post your coins of Victorinus, your consecration coins or anything else you feel like might be relevant.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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