I always wanted one of these and listening to the news every night makes it hard to avoid famous people being infamous which reminded me I always wanted one of these. Victorinus ruled the Gallic Empire of Postumus after clearing up the competition from Marius and before Tetricus after history decided that Domitian II was not a long term good idea. Among the things he is most noted for is his seduction of the wife of one of his officers who killed the emperor. Victorinus' mother was able to buy the support of the army who apparently liked him (perhaps only the single ones???) and arranged the elevation of Tetricus I. The coin shown here honors the deification of Victorinus either by his mother's money or by Tetricus making him the only Gallic Emperor so honored. Catalogs list it as an issue of Tetricus but the constant need for new coin production at that time suggests to me that the coin may have been produced in the couple days while the negotiations were in progress. These coins come with (three???) 'normal' reverses and a CONSECRATIO eagle type. I suspect the normal types might be found as die matches for normal coins since the rush to make coins and the fact that obverse dies tend to list longer (even in this period???) might make them desirable. They could just have been first since all die cutting resources might have been put to work on obverses. Obviously I would love to find a die match. In any event, DIVO VICTORINO PIO coins are considerably more scarce than other coins of the ruler. As usual for coins of this period, finding well struck and full legend ones is not as easy as we might like. This one was ex CNG (I paid more) and realizations show the market really favors coins with a more clear DIVO and cares little for the PIO. CNG did not comment on the lump on the reverse at lower right by the V of AVG but I would like to know if it is a die failure or evidence of an overstrike. I guess now I need a normal Providentia and an eagle type Divo. Collecting these things gets addictive.
Never seen this type before for him, but I don't look hard either. Nice addition eitherway. Victorinus (268 - 271 A.D.) Æ(S) Antoninianus O: IMP C VICTORINVS P F AVG, radiate draped and cuirassed bust right. R: PAX AVG, Pax standing left holding scepter and branch, V in left field, * in right field. Treveri (Trier). Struck 269 - 270 A.D. 3.1g 20mm RIC V 117; AGK 14a; Cohen 83
Never seen that type before either. Very interesting consecration issue My only Victorinus features a Sol reverse Victorinus, Antoninianus IMP C VICTORINVS P F AVG, radiate and cuirassed bust right INVICTVS, Sol advancing left. Star in left field 2.7 gr Ref : Cohen # 49, RCV # 11170 Q
This is the only Victorinus that I have... Roman Imperial Victorinus Romano-Gallic Emperor, A.D. 269-271. AE Antoninianus (21.4 mm, 2.20 g, 7 h) Cologne mint, struck A.D. 269-70. Obv: IMP C VICTORINVS P F AVG, radiate and cuirassed bust right Rev: SALVS AVG, Salus standing right, feeding serpent held in her arms. Ref: RIC 67; Mairat 321-6; AGK 21c
I have a Pietas Victorinus (Augustus) Coin: Bronze Antoninianus IMP C VICTORINVS P F AVG - radiate and cuirassed bust right PIETAS AVG - Pietas standing left by altar, holding patera and box of perfumes. Mint: Uncertain (269-270 AD) Wt./Size/Axis: 3.15g / 19mm / - References: Similar to RIC V 57
It's been awhile since I've had something new to add to the want list, but I'm good now. Congrats on the nice buy.
Not a Victorinus, but I'll put this one here because it's an interesting Divus type, and it just arrived yesterday . DIVUS ANTONINUS PIUS Died 161 AD AR Antoninianus 4.86g, 22.6mm Rome mint, AD 250-251, commemorative issue struck under Trajan Decius RIC IV 90 (Trajan Decius) O: DIVO PIO, radiate head right. R: CONSECRATIO, lighted altar. We get so used to seeing ruler portraits issued in their lifetime (or in the couple of years following their deaths) that you know a series is going to be interesting just because it shows you portraits engraved in some cases over two hundred years after the emperor's reign. My A-Pi's portrait has a similar enough style, perhaps just different enough to be distinct, from those on coins struck during his reign. For me, it's interesting enough to me just to have his face on a denomination that didn't even exist in his time. Others in this series have ruler portraits that are stylistically pretty far out, and those would be the really cool ones to collect. I'd actually like to get a full set of these, but most of the others are going to be harder to come by and pricier. One other interesting thing about my coin is its weight, which at 4.86g is much heavier than the average for this series. I've seen the theory that Decius, more than averagely intelligent for a short-lived 3rd century ruler, simply withdrew worn old denarii from circulation and restruck this series on them ("hey guys, look, we just turned an old cruddy denarius into a brand new double denarius!"), which would account for why many only weigh in the mid 2g and low 3g range. Mine, quite a bit heavier than Decius's average antoninianus, might have been struck over an antoninianus from a earlier reign.
Since it was mentioned, I'll show a Decius antoninianus overstruck on a Geta denarius. Overstriking was not rare but being able to identify the undertype so certainly is less common. from my page: http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/feac51dec.html
Awesome coins, fellas!! Not unlike Q => here is my only humble Victorinus example ... ... high-five, Sol
Definitely a cool coin. It's not at all typical to see a radiate head on consecration issues coined by Marcus Aurelius. IIRC that is common for the denomination, but his death predates the creation of the antonianianus by almost 75 years. It's a reasonable likeness, too. I don't see any evidence of an overstrike unless it's that kind of weird stuff going on above the altar on the reverse. Is that what makes you think it's overstruck?
No, there's no evidence of overstriking... many that were struck over older coins don't actually show traces. Decius was known to have recycled old denarii (particularly Severan era denarii) for his antoniniani. It's just a theory, but IMHO plausible an antoninianus from the time of Caracalla-Elagabalus just slipped into the mix. These commemorative Divi types were Decius's final issues, and by this time the average weight of his ants had dropped to 3.6g and below. 4.85g for this series is not very rare, but unusual enough to be noteworthy.
@zumbly, your DIVO PIO is just awesome ! You probably know how much I like the Divi series (just crazy about them : http://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=216 ) @stevex6, your Sol Invictus is far better than mine (what a reverse), you can see me turning a bit green with envy Congrats to all for nice examples of Victorinus Q
