Gallienus - Rare coins of a common Emperor

Hi all,
Coins of Gallienus are some of the most common of the Imperial age. However, there are some great rarities and interesting coins issued for the man. The great thing about Gallienus is that these rarities are just as ugly as the rest of his common coins and many times missed in sale or auction.

Anyway, this coin is a bit of a mystery. There are similar coins listed in RIC both in the co-reign section (with Valerian in 259 AD) and the sole reign section (again listed as 259 AD), with various obverse legends and mint marks.

This coin has a legend not listed in RIC (close but not exactly) and I've only been able to find one other example online. I think it's RIC V-1 459 Milan but... I'm not sure, it could equally be a variation of the variations listed in the joint reign section as well (RIC 306-309, I guess the line is a modern arbitrary construction anyway... I don't have Gobl, what does that reference say?). Anyone out there have a thought on a reference for this coin?

I guess here I should point out the reason for this coin being special is (beyond being a dated issue), the obverse legend is IMP GALLIENVS P AVG GER. The GER indicating a victory over Germanic Tribes, which is absent from nearly all other versions of this type that usually just have the usual IMP GALLIENVS PF AVG legend or close variation.


Gallienus, Antoninianus, 259
Mediolanum
IMP GALLIENVS P AVG GER
Radiate head right
P M TR P VII COS (any mint mark off flan)
Emperor, veiled, standing facing, head left, sacrificing from patera in right hand over lit altar at left, transverse scepter in left hand
RIC V, Part I, 459?

If you've made it this far and are interested in coins of Gallienus, let me know if you have any thoughts... or if you're just waiting to show your coins... show me your RARE coins of Gallienus. Thanks!

 

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Nice coin, I wouldnt call it ugly. The portrait got quite a nice style and is in good condition and the reverse type is a classic.
I recently received a coin of Gallienus I couldnt find exactly on wildwinds.
Its close to RIC 182(j) but got a different obverse legend:
Antoninianus - IMP GALLIENVS PF AVG GERM - VIRTVS AVGG - Soldier looking left

The condition of the coin is not as nice as yours but my Gallienus looks pretty pissed
after having the beat a bunch of german invasions and as many usurpers

 

That's a great coin! There are so few primary sources for the history of this period that I get excited when a coin hints at something. I looked for your coin and didn't find anything at all either exactly. Great addition, it looks early... maybe at the end the joint reign.

 

I've been looking for years... for a match for this one... a unique variation of a common reverse type. Ugly yes... but rare... yes.

OB: GALLIENVS AVG
R: PROVIDENTIA (AVG (likely))
Providentia standing left with globe and traverse scepter.
Not attested in any known references.

Posted a few years ago on FORVM with Curtis C responding with it is a variant of attested coins and CoinProject requesting to add it (they never did): https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=119541.msg723802#msg723802

 

Great coins shown here. Gallienus had so many interesting types minted, it is a shame that they are often so scruffy-looking. The inflation was really taking off during the 260s and the mints had to churn out ever larger numbers for Gallienus to pay his troops.

The coin below is not rare, but in good condition:

 

Also from the Milan mint:

 

Another PAX AVG from Milan. The first one above shows Pax walking, this one shows Pax standing. The portrait is superbe.



This one also shows a particularly nice portrait.

 

Could it be that this reverse is rarer than I thought? I checked in acsearch were similar pieces were described as rare (R1).

https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=7836538

Not sure, I thought the type is common.

 

Here is a rare aureus. (Not mine) It is notable for three features (1) the legend is in the Vocative case on the obverse (2) Gallienus is wearing a corn (wheat) wreath on his portrait (3) The reverse legend, VBQVE PAX (Peace everywhere) is a joke.

 

Here's one of mine - Germanicus Maximus V

 

Very nice portrait on your fun traitor
It's nuts how long the guy was around and how little we really know about him... other than that he left his papa in the lurch to become a human footstool and or a stuffed man-imal.
My most rare is probably my ugliest coin.
The pig is the second most rare from the zoo series:


And some other favs from my zoo:


And my lone non zoo Gal pal:

 

I owned these two coins in the 90’s and consigned them to CNG 40 and Triton II. They were sold again by CNG in 2019. I bought them from a dealer who had about 4000 Gallienus ants from a hoard and let me pick for $8 each. I bought about 100 coins at the time. These were the best two.

Barry Murphy

 

Very cool obverse legend! I don't have any rare types, but here are two rare denominations: a denarius and an As.

 

I love Gallienus. I have over 50 coins of the guy, and I keep getting more.

Here are a few of my more unusual ones:

Reverse legend "VICTORIAE AVG GERM IT" is apparently a bit more unusual than most.



Neptune doesn't show up too often with any ruler (except Agrippa), and dated coins of Gallienus are not very common either. We also don't see exergued ants very often.


Plenty of DIANAE reverses, but a lot less of the, have the actual goddess.


Apollo is another rather unusual deity to show up on any emperor.


Standing Fortuna is common; seated is much less so.


And this last one is just probably my prettiest one overall, with a rather fine patina and nearly as-struck.

 

I wouldn't call the Gallienus legionary series of emblems (mostly animals) rare, but it's certainly less common than most coins of the Zoo series. Here's my one example -- a terrible obverse, but I like the reverse:



Gallienus (son of Valerian I), Billon Antoninianus, 258 AD [RIC] or 260-261 AD [Sear], Mediolanum [Milan] Mint, Legionary Issue. Obv. Radiate and cuirassed bust right, GALLIENVS AVG / Rev. Bull advancing right, bellowing with head raised and mouth open, LEG VIII AVG [Augusta] VI P [Pia] VI F [Fidelis]. RIC V-1 353j [joint reign] (p. 95), RSC IV 522, Sear RCV III 10268, Göbl MIR [Moneta Imperii Romani] Band 36, No. 1009h. 18 mm., 2.49 g.*

*A bull was the emblem of Leg. VIII Augusta, based in Strasbourg, France (then Argentoratum in Gaul) -- just as the animals or other figures shown on the reverses of the other coins of the Gallienus legionary series served as the emblems or badges of those legions. See Jones, John Melville, A Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins (London, Seaby, 1999) at p. 166 [entry for Legio]); RIC V-1 at p. 34. See also the list of the legions and their emblems depicted in the legionary series, at http://www258.pair.com/denarius/cgi-bin/erfind.pl?sstring=legio+milan. Note that if this theory is correct, then several animals served as the emblem of more than one legion -- e.g., the bull for three legions [VII, VIII, and X].

The general consensus is that the P and F stood for Pia Fidelis.

See Jones, John Melville, A Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins (London, Seaby, 1999) at p. 166 [entry for Legio] (“the correct explanation seems to be that the legions were being commended for the virtues of piety and fidelity”). Note that “P F” can also stand for Pius Felix (see RIC V-1 at p. 32), but that term is usually associated with the emperor himself, and “faithfulness” seems a more appropriate appellation for the legions than “happiness.”

There is also controversy about the meaning of the Roman numeral VI preceding both the P and the F in the reverse legend (as well as concerning he meaning, in various other examples of the legionary series, of the numerals V or VII instead of VI preceding P and F). In RIC V-1 at p. 34, Harold Mattingly cites the work of Sir Charles Oman supporting the theory that the Roman numerals refer to the regnal years of Gallienus’s joint reign with his father in which the coins were issued -- i.e., years V-VII, or 157-159 AD -- despite the fact that “the obverse inscription is usually GALLIENVS AVG, a form of legend which does not generally appear until 260.” According to Mattingly, Oman “conclusively points out that Gallienus would, at no date after 259, have celebrated the piety and loyalty of the Rhine legions [such as Leg. VIII Augusta itself, based at Strasbourg, then Argentoratum], which had assisted the rebel Postumus to overthrow his authority in Gaul and to slay his son” (Saloninus). Jones agrees, stating in his Dictionary at p. 166 that “the numbers indicated the years of the emperor’s reign.”

However, the more recent authorities seem to disagree. See Sear RCV III at p. 293, stating that the legionary series of Gallienus “was issued early in his sole reign [i.e., after Valerian I’s capture by the Persians in 260] at Milan, the base of the recently established field army commanded by Aureolus. The units honoured were the Praetorian Cohort and the seventeen legions which had furnished detachments for the field army. The numerals ‘VI’ and ‘VII’ appearing in the reverse legends may refer to the victories achieved by Aureolus over the usurpers Ingenuus and Regalian.” See also https://www.beastcoins.com/RomanImperial/V-I/Gallienus/Gallienus.htm (“In 260, following the defeats of the revolts, Gallienus produced Antoniniani at Milan, honoring his different legions. Each legion or cohort is featured through the legionary badge on the reverse, along with the victory number and P F for Pia Fidelis. One coin type was issued for each of the three battles in which the unit participated. Victory V was against the Alemanni, VI was against Ingenuus and VII was against Regalianus.”) Neither Sear nor Beast Coins provides any source for the theory that the three Roman numerals can be tied to specific victories. Nor do they address Oman’s argument that Gallienus would not have honored and praised the Rhine legions after the usurpation of Postumus in the summer of 260.

At https://www.livius.org/articles/legion/legio-viii-augusta/ , in the article on Legion VIII Augusta, named on this coin (as well as in other articles about other legions), the author implicitly rejects both the view that the Roman numerals V, VI, and VII represent regnal years, and the view that they refer to specific victories, asserting instead that legends such as “VI Pia VI Fidelis” simply honor the legion for having been “six [or five, or seven, depending upon the coin] times faithful, six times loyal”:

“Between 250 and 260, however, Baden-Württemberg was seized by the Alamanni. This time, the Romans were unable to strike back and they gave up the country between Danube and Rhine. However, VIII Augusta still defended the Rhine frontier. In the conflict between the emperors Gallienus (of Italy) and Postumus (of Gaul), the legion seems to have supported the former, and it received honorific titles like V, VI, VII Pia fidelis (five times, six times, and seven times faithful and loyal). Yet, it seems certain that Postumus controlled Germania Superior, so we are left with a minor problem.” In short, there is no definitive answer to the questions of precisely what the V, VI, or VII on these coins signify, and when the coins were issued.

 

50 is good, I bet you could get up to 100 different types if you really tried.

 

I too like the coins of Gallienus, though I don't seek them out as avidly as some other ancients. Whenever I get one, I find the attribution part to be somewhat difficult, which I rather enjoy.

Here are some of my latest ones (from the past year), with my best guess at attributions:


Gallienus Antoninianus
(260-268 A.D.)
Mediolanum Mint (see note)
GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head right / LAETITIA AVG, Laetitia standing left, holding wreath and anchor (no field marks).
RIC 489K var. (no fieldmarks); Göbl 1093m; Cunetio hoard 1596; Normanby hoard 406. (see note)
(2.53 grams / 19 mm)
eBay August 2021
Attribution Note: Two of this type with identical descriptions:
RIC 226k, Rome Mint
RIC 489k, Mediolanum Mint.
Numista lists both types, noting RIC 489: "It is similar to RIV(sic) V.1 226 but differs in style" My guess based on looking at a few of these is that this is
Mediolanum, RIC 489k.

Here's another recent one I rassled with:

Gallienus Antoninianus
(260-268 A.D.)
Siscia Mint
GALLIENVS AVG, radiate, cuirassed bust right / PAX AVG Pax standing left, holding olive branch and scepter
RIC 575f; Göbl 1441 (variety for obverse bust type); Cohen 728; MIR 1441aa (3 specimens)
(2.60 grams / 19 x 17 mm)
eBay August 2021

This one is a "joint reign" type - I was impressed by the quality of the workmanship on this:

Gallienus Antoninianus
(254-255 A.D.) (joint reign)
Rome Mint
IMP C P LIC GALLIENVS AVG, radiate, cuirassed bust right / IOVI CONSERVA, Jupiter standing left holding thunderbolt and sceptre.
RIC 143 (j.r.); Göbl 0025v; RSC 351; Sear 10237.
(3.23 grams / 23 x 21 mm)
eBay April 2021

Another "joint reign" with notes demonstrating some mint location disagreement:

Gallienus Antoninianus
(255-256 A.D.) (joint reign)
Asia (RIC) Samosata (Göbl)
IMP CP LIC GALLIENVS AVG radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right / PIETAS AVGG, Gallienus and Valerian, standing face to face, sacrificing at altar; holding patera, sceptre, etc.
RIC V 446; Göbl 1676m.
(2.85 grams / 21 mm)
eBay Mar. 2021
Attribution Notes:
Only Wildwinds describes RIC 446 as being from Rome.
Bust is described as draped, but this also cuirassed. See: Nomos, Obolos Web Auction No. 4, Lot 757, 21.02.2016 Leu Numismatik, Web Auction 15, Lot 2003, 27.2.2021

Aequitas on this dumpy one:

Gallienus Æ Antoninianus
(261-262 A.D.)
Rome Mint
GALLIENVS AVG, radiate and
cuirassed bust right / AEQVITAS AVG, Aequitas standing left, holding scales and cornucopiae, VI in right field.
RIC 159 var. (bust / field mark); Göbl 0500q.
(3.72 grams / 20 x 16 mm)
eBay Sep. 2020

 

We have had a couple LAETITIA coins from different mints in the above listings. I bought this one just because it was 'different'. I assume it is just barbarous. What is the last letter on the reverse? Any Gallienus experts out there?

 

I'm not a Gallienus expert by any means, so take this with a pinch of salt lol. I'd guess it's an N, meaning the reverse has probably been copied from an antoninianus of Gordian III with LAETITIA AVG N reverse