Inexpensive beauties

... and sometimes the reverse is nicer than the avers.

 

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I'm done with Victorinus now. Here is my only Laelianus - VICTORIA AVG Antoninian. The coin was minted at Mainz in Germany.

 

I own a Tetricus that I have not fully attributed yet, however, I was not aware the quality of these coins was so poor on average. This thread surprised me!

 

As wrote before, the coins of the Tetrici were inflation-issues, i.e. produced in a period of severe economic crisis. They were produced in large quantities in a short period of time. As a result, we get overused dies (especially the reverse dies), carelessly cut out flans and many make-shift dies (so called inofficial or barbarous issues). I think something like 90% of the surviving coins are of poor quality.

I collected these coins as a student with a small budget. Nevertheless, I was always careful to look for quality and I think the coins I have shown here are almost as good as it gets, i.e. real inexpensive beauties.

Show us your Tetricus and we can perhaps attribute the coin.

 

In keeping with the spirit of this thread, here is a common, inexpensive Postumus - MONETA AVG with a particularly charming portrait, where Postumus seems to be smiling.

 

This Postumus - PAX AVG is nice too. It is a copper-alloy coin. What I don't understand is why there are relatively good silver coins and poor copper coins with apparently the same denomination under Postumus and under Victorinus. I would have thought that the inflation progressed in a more or less linear fashion. However, it seems that various attempts to restore the standard have been made before the currency collapsed.

 

.... this one is made of relatively good silver, that is the best silver that was issued under Postumus. This coin and the one above, which is made of a copper-alloy cannot have circulated simultaneously with the same denomination.

 

I like his galley-reverses. I think this could be reference to the Rhine fleet, which was stationed at Cologne.

 

Some more nice portraits and reverses: PAX AVG and SALVS AVG

 

and a Milan mint issue, which is scarcer than the coins from Cologne:

 

This wonderful thread deserves a bump. Here are some more Postumus types.


Postumus, Gallic Roman Empire, AR antoninianus, 261 AD, Trier mint. Obv: IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG; bust of Postumus, laureate, draped, cuirassed, r,. Rev: P M TR P COS II P P; emperor helmeted, standing l., holding globe in r. hand and long spear (points up) in l. hand. 24.5mm, 2.94g. Ref: Mairat 108/109; RIC V Postumus 54.


Postumus, Gallic Roman Empire, AR antoninian, 262–266 AD, Trier mint. Obv: IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG; bust of Postumus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, r. Rev: MONETA AVG; Moneta, draped, standing l., holding scales in r. hand and cornucopiae in l. hand. 23mm, 2.96g. Ref: Mairat 246–7/320–1; RIC V Postumus 75/315.


Postumus, Gallic-Roman Empire, AR antoninianus, 262–263 AD, Trier mint. Obv: IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG; bust of Postumus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, r. Rev: HERC PACIFERO; Hercules, standing l., holding olive-branch, club, and lion's skin. 22mm, 2.74g. Ref: Mairat 248–250; RIC V Postumus 67.


Postumus, Gallic Roman Empire, AR antoninian, 263–266 AD, Trier mint. Obv: IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG; bust of Postumus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, r. Rev: FELICITAS AVG; Felicitas, draped, standing l., holding caduceus in r. hand and cornucopiae in l. hand. 23mm, 2.71g. Ref: Mairat 265/317.; RIC V Postumus 58. Ex Ken Dorney.


Postumus, Gallic Roman Empire, AR antoninian, 263 AD, Trier mint. Obv: IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG; bust of Postumus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, r. Rev: P M TR P IIII COS III P P; Mars, walking r., holding spear in r. hand and trophy in l. hand. 21mm, 2.84g. Ref: Mairat 255; RIC V Postumus 57.

The figure on this reverse has the characteristic beard: it definitely portrays Postumus and not just a generic emperor.

Postumus, Gallic Roman Empire, AR antoninian, 266–267 AD, Trier mint. Obv: IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG; bust of Postumus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, Rev: SAECVLI FELICITAS; Postumus, draped, cuirassed, standing r., holding spear in r. hand and globe in l. hand. 21mm, 4.31g. Ref: Mairat 365; RIC V Postumus 83/325.

 

If you ask what the V on Victorinus means, you should ask what the P means on the Postumus. Can it be that simple?

I have seen many good silver coins of Postumus but not of Victorinus. Can you show some? I assumed the debasement was either linear or all of a sudden before Victorinus had come on the scene. Wrong? I wish I had a better feeling about the correctness of mint attributions (other than Milan which seems quite likely). My favorite Postumus previously did service as a sestertius of Antoninus Pius whose forehead and nose can be seen just above those of Postumus.

 

I read different hypotheses about these letters, which are neatly summarized by Jerome Mairat: The Coinage of the Gallic Empire (2014). I quote the relevant section:

"[Gricourt and Hollard 2010] interpret the letter P in the field of the [Postumus] reverses PAX AVG and ORIENS [...] as having a double meaning: the letter P would stand both for Postumus and for legio XXII Primigenia. From this interpretation, they build a reconstruction where the coins with the letter P have not been issued at the main mint, but by a traveling mint following the legio XXII during a military campaign. [...]

On the same basis, they also interpret the letter V on the reverse of some Victorinus’s radiates [...] as have having a double meaning as well: on these coins, V would stand for Victorinus and XXXa Ulpia victrix at the same time. They conclude that these coins of Victorinus usually attributed to the main mint were in fact struck by a travelling mint also following another important legion of the Gallic Empire, the legio XXX. [...]

However, the present writer feels that a single letter on the reverse of some radiates, having a double meaning, first under the reign of Postumus, and then again under the reign of Victorinus, is rather difficult to accept. Indeed, the probability that the first letter of the emperor’s name is also the initial letter of the legion for which coins were struck is certainly quite small. And it is even less likely to have happened twice. One could also note that there are no other parallels for adding a legion’s name to the coinage as a single letter. At best, the letter P on Postumus’s coins stands for Postumus, and the letter V on Victorinus’s coins just stands for Victorinus." (Mairat 2014, pp. 66–68)

Here are two Victorinus coins, yet without the letter:

Victorinus, Gallic Roman Empire, AE antoninian, 271 AD, Trier mint. Obv: IMP C VICTORINVS PF AVG; radiate, draped, cuirassed bust of Victorinus r. Rev: [VIRT]VS AVG; Virtus, helmetes, standing r., holding spear and leaning on shield. 17mm, 1.98g. Ref: Mairat 635; RIC V,2 Victorinus 78.


Victorinus, Gallic Roman Empire, BI antoninian, 269–270 AD, Cologne mint. Obv: IMP C VICTORINVS PF AVG; radiate, draped, cuirassed bust of Victorinus r. Rev: SALVS AVG; Salus standing r., holding serpent and patera. 22mm, 2.80g. Ref: Mairat 643/644; RIC V,2 Victorinus 122.

 

That's a weird countermark, indeed. Here's an INVICTVS without a c/m:


Victorinus, AD 269-271.
Roman billon antoninianus, 2.29 g, 20.1 mm, 6 h.
Cologne, AD 270-271.
Obv: IMP C VICTORINVS P F AVG, radiate and draped bust, right.
Rev: INVICTVS, Sol advancing left, raising right hand and holding whip in left; * in left field.
Refs: RIC 114; Cohen 49; RCV 11170; De Witte 27; Hunter 7.

 

Yes, I have a few coins of Victorinus, which are made of metal that is better than average. These coins always have a rather large flan and my impression is that they typically come in good condition, which may indicate that they didn't circulate very long. Hence, with the rapid deterioration of the coin standard, these coins may have been hoarded instead of being spend.

Here are two examples:

 

Here is another example struck in relatively good metal. This one has a FIDES MILITVM-reverse. This is a very early emission with the name Piavonius Victorinus spelled out in full, which is quite scarce.

I think the celator may not have been quite sure what the new emperor's main name would be, so the squeezed the full name on the coin.

 

Maybe it is, but then the question is why put the first letter of the emperor's name on the reverse if the full name is on the obverse. Also, why does the letter appear only on some coins and not on all coins. We will probably never know.

 

I bought this coin thinking of this thread. Earlier the question arose about what the "P" and "V" field marks mean on the reverse of PAX AVG coins from Postumous and Victorinus. While I have nothing to add to solve the question... I do have here a Gallienus PAX AVG with a reverse field mark of "V" from during the time of Postumous' reign in the Gallic empire.

This implies that the "P" or "V" do not correspond to Postumous or Victorinus, especially since there was no overlap between Gallienus and Victorinus, where dies may have been captured and used. So... I'm not sure what the field marks mean and have not done the research yet to learn more... but will follow up if I learn anything.

As for the inexpensive beauties part... this coin cost me $5.75 before a few dollars shipping. How cool is this hobby...



Here's my Victorinus:


Neither are really beauties... but both were inexpensive!

 

In the middle of 268, Postumus finally debased his coinage
and thereafter the Gallic coinage consisted of a poor billon
with a silver-coated surface. The two main types PAX AVG
and ORIENS AVG, continued in production with the addition of the letter
P in the reverse field, presumably a privy-mark intended to
distinguish the base coinage from the finer when newly struck.

Ref: The Cunetio and Normanby Hoards: Roger Bland, Edward Besly and Andrew Burnett

 

Thank you for the info! But why were many of the following Victorinus coins and the Gallienus coins contemporary with the Postumous coins marked "V"? P = pretty bad, V = very bad? haha...