Bring Out Your Claudius Gothicus!

In his short two year reign, Claudius Gothicus struck a large number of truly ratty coins. There's a paper in a 1969 edition of The Numismatic Chronicle entitled "The Nadir of the Imperial Antoninianus in the Reign of Claudius II Gothicus". That's right, "NADIR"... so quite literally, the pits. And, while that paper addresses the microscopically token level of silver in his coins, most will agree that in general his coins score little better in terms of style and production values when compared to those struck in any of the other 1st to 3rd century years of Roman Imperial coinage.

All that said, I've never been one to shy away from the enjoyment of ANY coin, because I've always felt our little pieces of history deserve to be loved for what they are and what they represent of their times . But okay, before I start waxing lyrical over all the uncollectible coins I own, let me first show this unusually nice Claudius Gothicus that I did manage to pick up recently. It's in recognizably Antiochean style and nothing rare, but what it has going for it is an exceptionally well-executed portrait, deeply struck and decently centered enough that none of the devices are missing. Even the patchy silvering won't keep me calling this a flat-out stunner of a coin. Yes, it's already getting the stink eye from its many other less than pretty tray neighbours .

Please feel free to post your coins of Claudius Gothicus!


CLAUDIUS GOTHICUS
AE Antoninianus. 3.29g, 20.5mm. Antioch mint, circa early – mid AD 270. New RIC Online Temp #1053; RIC 221; Cohen 273. O: IMP C CLAVDIVS AVG, radiate head right. R: SOL AVG, Sol with whip and upraised arm standing left.

 

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I have one and it was among the first ancient coin purchases I've made.


Claudius II (Gothicus), AD 268 - 270
AE, antoninianus, 3.8g, 20mm; 11h; Rome, AD 269
Obv.: IMP C CLAUDIUS AVG; radiate, draped, curiassed bust right
Rev.: GENIVS AVG; Genius standing left by altar, holding patera and cornucopiae

 

Claudius II
Coin: Bronze Antoninianus
IMP CLAVDIVS P F AVG - Radiate, draped bust right
FIDES MILIT - Fides standing left holding two standards.
Mint: Milan (268–270 AD)
Wt./Size/Axis: 4.76g / 20mm / -
References:

• RIC 149 corr. ("standing right");
• Cohen 88
• Sear 11335
• RIC 149

Tatty but pretty colours


Claudius II
Coin: Bronze Ant
IMP C CLADIVUS AVG - Radiate, curiassed bust right
VIRTVS AVG - Soldier standing let holding branch and spear shield at foot retrograde epsilon in left field
Mint: Rome (268-270 AD)
Wt./Size/Axis: 3.11g / 21mm / -
References:

• RIC 109

Crappy obverse, but the reverse.....


Claudius II
Coin: Bronze Ant
IMP CLAVDIVS P F AVG - Radiate, draped bust right
SPES P-VBLICA - Spes walking left, holding flower and raising robe
Mint: Mediolanum* (Sept. 268-Jan. 269 A)
Wt./Size/Axis: 2.16g / 20mm / -
References:

• RIC V 168
• Venèra 9073-9106

Notes: Nov 23, 14 - *No mint mark, should be P lots of silvering remains

 

I have some provincials to add . Tetradrachms of that general period in Roman Egypt had degraded quite a bit-- fabric, style, and quality-- but under Claudius II there appears to have been at least one talented engraver.


EGYPT, Alexandria. Claudius II Gothicus
year 1, CE 268
tetradrachm
Obv: AVTKKΛAΔIOCCEB; laureate draped bust right
Rev: eagle standing right, head left, wreath in beak; L- A in right field
Ref: Emmett 3878.1, R1


EGYPT, Alexandria. Claudius II Gothicus
year 3, CE 269/70
tetradrachm, 20 mm, 10.2 gm
Obv: AVTKKΛAVΔIOCCEB (In theory: what I can read on this coin doesn't quite match what the legend is supposed to be. Probably just engraver error or die deterioration); laureate head right
Rev: Tyche standing left with rudder and cornucopia; L Γ in left field
Ref: Emmett 3896.3, R4

 

@Pishpash, that's quite a pretty Spes for the period.

@Jwt708, a Claudius II was one of my first ancient pickups as well, a classic Divo Claudio, with all the typical problems of the period. Still love it.

 

Yeah, I bet your guy was getting the ol' stink eye from the other die cutters at the Alexandria mint .

 

A little more Gothicus love.


CLAUDIUS GOTHICUS
AE Antoninianus. 2.23g, 19.6mm. Antioch mint, AD 269-270. RIC 217 (scarce). O: IMP C CLAVDIVS AVG, radiate, draped bust right. R: SALVS AVG, Isis standing left holding sistrum and basket; [e] in exergue.


CLAUDIUS GOTHICUS
Billon Antoninianus. 3.8g, 20mmm. Mediolanum mint, AD 268-270. RIC 171; C 302; Sear 11379. O: IMP CLAVDIVS P F AVG, radiate draped bust right. R: VICTORIA AVG, Victory running right holding wreath and palm; S in exergue.

 

Some of the low points..... I have worse....

Claudius II Gothicus

Obv:– IMP C CLAVDIVS AVG, Radiate head left
Rev:– IVNO REGINA, Juno standing left, patera in right, scepter in left, peacock at feet left
Minted in Antioch. September 268 - August or September 270 A.D.
Reference:– RIC V 212



Claudius II Gothicus

Obv:– IMP C CLAVDIVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind
Rev:– IVVENTVS AVG, Hercules standing facing, head turned right, holding club set on ground in right hand, apple in left
Minted in Antioch (//D). A.D. 68 - 270
Reference:– RIC 213



But when they were good they were actually quite nice....

Claudius II Gothicus

Obv:– IMP CLAVDIVS P F AVG, Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev:– VIRTVS AVG, Mars advancing right, holding trophy and spear
Minted in Milan. (P in exe)
Reference:– RIC 172. Cohen 315



Their Alexandrian quality was sometimes superb. I find the reverse of this one utterly enchanting.

Claudius II Gothicus, Billon tetradrachm

Obv:– AVT K KΛAVΔIOC CEB, Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev:– None, Nike advancing right, holding wreath & palm, year
Minted in Alexandria, L in left field, B in right field (year 2). A.D. 268/269
Reference:– Curtis 1712, BMC 2321 Milne 4228



Martin

 

@maridvnvm, the second Antioch with the Marty Feldman eye is quite brilliant! Your Alexandrian and @TIF's suggest that more of us should be looking out for them.

 

Ummm sure, I'll go after Martin's sweet examples ... this has to be my "most humble" ancient coin ...

=> oh, and it happens to be my 2nd ancient coin purchase "ever" (yah, apparently I wasn't quite as savvy back then, eh?)







Don't worry, lil' Claudius-II ... you still have a warm place in my coin-heart

 

Oh, sorry Z-Bro (I didn't comment on your amazingly awesome OP-addition!!)

=> it is a gorgeous example ... man, I am huge fan of Sol-types (The Sol man)

=> I'm jealous of your new winner

 

They may be mangy old fleabags, but they're our mangy old fleabags .

 

Wonderful example @zumbly !!

Terrific example guys, especially those cool provincials.

A couple of my better examples:

A 'Gothico' example and a Tet of Alexandria:

 

@Mikey Zee, terrific Divo Gothico... definitely looks put out at being dead .

 

One that might be described as "the nadir," PROVIDENTIA AVG:



And one that's fairly decent in style and still with quite a bit of silvering left. RESTITVTOR ORBIS:

 

Great coin, Z!

Bad image, hard to get.


Claudius II (268 - 270 A.D.)
Æ Antoninianus
O: IMP C CLAVDIVS AVG, radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind.
R: SALVS AVG, Isis Faria standing facing, head left, holding sistrum and basket; Є
Antioch mint
22mm
3.37g
RIC 217

 

Thanks! That's a nice example of one of his more unusual reverses.

 

VERY nice CIIG! Well done finding that quality piece.

I have a couple, not nearly as nice. However, for my collection they are placeholders in my Emperors Portraits:


RI Claudius II 268-270 BI Ant Fortuna


RI Claudius II 268-270 CE BI Ant Neptune Stndg dolphin trident

 

My favorite Claudius II is this very tough to find piece:


Ox: IMP C CLAVDIVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rx: REGI ARTIS, Vulcanus standing right, holding hammer and tongs

 

Very nice! Despite the wretched condition of most of his coinage, he did have some interesting and unusual issues. If I recall correctly, REGI ARTIS (something like 'to the Ruler of the Arts') is unique to Claudius II.