My First Postumus - I Didn't Know They Made 'em in Silver

I'll admit it - for years I was a snob about the Gallic Kingdom...all those crumby bronze radiates. Given my bottom-feeding habits, there's just no excuse. But I wanted a Postumus because I really like some of his portraits.

So today in the mail I just got my first Postumus and I will admit I was wrong. I am smitten - so much better than "official" stuff coming out of Rome. What surprised me is that it appears to be pretty good silver (nice color and 3.20 grams). And the workmanship is just wonderful, I think. A well-spent $15, I think.

I'm working on attributing it - I think it is either RIC 86 (Cologne) or RIC 326 (Trier). Since I'm new to Postumus, I am struggling a bit (I am not complaining - this is fun).

I know there's been several Postumus threads here over the years, but I am ready to be dazzled by your examples. Especially, lets see those silvery ones?

 

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Many of his early coins are silver.

He was a handsome fella too.


Postumus (260 - 269 A.D.)
AR Antoninianus
O: IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG, Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right.
R: FIDES EXERCITVS Four military standards, hand on top of second, eagle on third.
Lugdunum (Lyon) mint. Struck 266 A.D.
3.8g
20mm
RIC V 303; Cunetio 2432; Elmer 417; RSC 65

 

It appears to be good silver because it's been cleaned and probably surface enrichment of silver has occured due to the cleaning process, with mild acid causing silver to migrate to the surface and form a silver rich layer, but I'd be hesitant to call his coins good silver....but rather high silver content billon, containing roughly 20% silver.

Here are two other silver rich billon coins of his, from early in his reign when he still controlled the silver mines in Iberia.



One might have more surface silver enrichment than the other, appearing to be better silver, but they are no more than 20% silver each, despite any outward appearance due to enrichment. If I were you, I'd change the AR in the label to Billon and make a note that it is silver rich billon.

Note that later antoninianii of his also saw a silver decline, with the coinage from the end of his reign probably not more than 5 to 10% silver.

 

Here's mine with a reverse of Greco-Egyptian deity Serapis (cool!) SERAPI COMITI AVG - Trier mint.

Also, pretty nice and silvery! Beats good 'Ol Gallienus hands down as far as metal quality.

 

Nice Postumus @Marsyas Mike ! I really like your reverse.

My original Postumus was GREEN:

BEFORE


BUT, @YOC put it in some of his magic sauce, and we discovered that my Ant was silvered!

AFTER

RI Postumus 259-268 CE Antoninianus Cologne Providentia

 

Holy Cow @Alegandron how did you do that? I have a weird green denarius of Septimius Severus that might respond well to a similar process.

 

Wonderful examples - I knew you guys would have some good stuff. Thank you for sharing.

As for "good" silver, I was being loose in my phraseology. In the 3rd century, anything not brown is "good" silver for me...though I do realize it's all pretty much billon or worse.

 

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Not true. Metallurgical studies have shown that since the time of Gordian III "silver coins" contained more base metal than silver. Gordian III coins are no more than 45% silver, though because of appearance dealers and catalogues still describe them as AR.

However, once you get to 20% silver billon during the time of Postumus things get tricky. Some coins look more billon and some more silver due to surface enrichment, so dealers describe them as billon or AR respectively based on looks alone, but they are all still around 20% silver regardless, so I think billon might be a better way to describe them at that point to avoid the inconsistencies in description of the coins.

 

Cope, L. H., C. E. King, J. P. Northover, and T. Clay. Metal Analyses of Roman Coins Minted Under the Empire. British Museum of Papers 120, 1997.

 

Holy cow, I actually got a Postumus in the mail today too! I loved the quality of this one, so I just had to get it.

260-261 AD
O:IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG
R: VICTORIA AVG (Victory advancing, holding wreath and palm, with captive at feet)

 

Can't you determine the approximate silver content by the date of his Ants? If I recall, those made in the 240s AD were roughly 40%, 250s AD were 30%, 260s AD were 20%, and afterward it became almost minute (less than 5% after 270 AD).

 

Yep, no more than 20% silver.

However, that doesn't mean that the later Gallic 4% to 5% silver ants don't deserve any love, because they do. I certainly enjoy them a lot.



PS: I have no doubt my Victorinus is 5% silver, but that Tetricus II probably is nothing better than raw copper. Certainly looks the part. Almost looks like the mint workers stamped a raw chunk of copper without preparation. Just look at those ragged edges.

 

In our hobby, liking something is the perfect reason to buy more of them .

I don’t have one with that reverse yet and am definitely behind on my Postumus buying this year. I think at last count I had something like two dozen, which is not a lot for this interesting and often affordable usurper/emperor.

 

Nice coin @Marsyas Mike

 

Quality control was bad during the Crisis of the 3rd Century. I wouldn't doubt many of those coins probably have less silver than what they are supposed to have on paper. In fact, during the 270s many mint officials were executed by Aurelian for stealing silver and pumping out coins with less silver than they were supposed to have, a practice historians said had been going on for a while. So if a coin is supposed to have 40% silver, dont be surprised if metallurgical analysis comes at 35% or less due to the thieving mint workers. Those decades were a mess and order and imperial control over things was spotty.

Also, quality of Postumus billon falls off the cliff during the last three years of his reign. The stuff he was minting by 268 CE was around 4 to 5% silver at best. And the stuff minted in Rome by that period may as well be 100% base due to the corruption of mint officials.

 

Here's an interesting and relevant thread.

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/a-...silver-roman-imperial-coins-using-xrf.269578/

I do wonder if there were outliers with higher silver content early in the reigns of some emperors like Postumus where the emperor might have had every intention of raising the standards only to have his good intentions meet with crushing fiscal reality? Too bad an XRF is out of my price range. Seems like a fun toy.

Edit: Nice coin @Marsyas Mike!

 

Interesting thread, Curtisimo - thanks for bringing it up. I think both Domitian and Severus Alexander made efforts to bump up the silver content early in their respective reigns, then gave up. I'm still puzzled by the fairly frequent occurrence of overweight antoniniani - those 5 gram examples that defy all efforts to historically justify (there's been some interesting posts here). Or for that matter, what the heck is an antoninianus exactly? There's some seriously weird information out there - a 5th century Frankish grave full of denarii of Antoninus Pius, etc.? Were these circulating, or were they special quasi-jewelry heirloom pieces? http://www.academia.edu/1171510/The_Coins_in_the_Grave_of_King_Childeric

Here's a good article on debasement, etc.

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/historia/de-basement/economy.html

The question of debasement and Gresham's Law is very interesting in regards to Roman coinage. Money is funny, and how exactly money is used by people is fraught with all sorts of complications having little to do with, say, silver content. Those cruddy 4th century bronze coins often show considerable circulation wear, which is to say they were used. What choice do you have? I've read somewhere that these little bronze coins were distributed in bags of 1000 or more - much the way Chinese cash coins were tied together in big groups. This sort of currency - a far cry from good silver - worked for centuries.

And it works today - as bad as a little bitty radiate was, a Roman of 450 AD would be astonished by our used of strips of paper (i.e. Federal Reserve Notes), and baffled by an e-check or online whatever. Like the Romans, we use what is available. And no, I do not understand "Quantitative Easing" but it has something to do with money supply. So did William Jennings Bryan and the farmer and workingman being "crucified" on a "cross of gold." So does the fact that my paycheck went virtual about five years ago and consists of digits on a screen. If it works we use it (again, what choice do we have?).

As a collector, however, I call it "silver" if it looks silver; if it's brown, it's not. My guess is the coins below wildly vary in fineness, but I call 'em "silver" - just as a kind of shorthand, not as a precise definition.

 

I'm not a fan boy of any particular metal (no gold yet...) but here's a sweet bronze:


Postumus, AD 260-269
AE “Double" Sestertius, 33mm, 24.9g, 12h; Colonia Agrippinensis or Treveri mint.
Obv.: IMP C M CASS LAT POSTVMVS P F AVG; Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
Rev.: LAETITIA AVG (AVG in exergue); Galley left, four rowers and steersman

 

Several rulers started off with better silver than the end level of their predecessor but it rarely lasted long. Pertinax and earliest Septimius Severus are better than last Commodus. Postumus started with coins that looked more like Gallienus' first year half a dozen years earlier even if it was only 20% tops.

Certainly there will be variations along the way. I suspect some was caused by recycling old coins. I doubt they started with .999 silver and alloyed it down. XRF seems fun for measuring surface silver but surface enrichment and added silver wash would seem to make the results more fun than meaningful.

Good intentions are dangerous. Didius Julianus is famous for promising to pay a lot of money 'buying' the empire but he had trouble coming up with the cash to pay the promised amount. Compare his denarii to those of Pertinax and Septimius. They are lighter. Hint for those planning to buy soldiers: Paying them in lightweight coins and shorting the count might not go well in the long run. Ask Didius.

My thought exactly!