Postumus - Gallic Empire

Marcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus was a Roman commander of provincial origin who ruled as emperor in the west. The Roman army in Gaul threw off its allegiance to Gallienus around the year 260, and Postumus assumed the title and powers of emperor in the provinces of Gaul, Germania, Britannia and Hispania, thereby founding what scholars have dubbed the Gallic Empire. He ruled for the better part of ten years before he was murdered by his own troops. (courtesy Wikipedia)

I won this coin in @John Anthony 's auction of last week. It is interesting in many respects but particularly because it depicts the Graeco-Egyptian god Serapis on the reverse. Introduced by Ptolemy I Soter, the deity was supposed to unify the pantheons of Egyptian and Greek gods so that one deity would appeal to disparate groups of worshipers. The cult of Serapis spread throughout the Roman Empire, even into the Western provinces, as evidenced by this coin of Postumus.

Obverse: IMP C POSTVMVS PF AVG
Radiate, draped, cuirassed but right

Reverse: SERAPI COMITI AVG
Serapis standing left, raising hand and holding sceptre

Year: 267 C.E.

Reference: RSC 360a, Sear 10991

Mint: Trier





Hope you like it and feel free to post your Gallic's here!

 

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I saw that one and thought about adding it myself. You grabbed it at a nice bargain.
I will post one of my Postumus that I got from JA last year.
My photo is a little dark but trying to capture the silvering.

Who doesn't like some Postumus coins?

 

Well done @ancient coin hunter ! Nice coin, great price, and always a good deal from the Coin-Monster himself: @John Anthony !

Here are mine:


RI Postumus 259-268 CE Antoninianus Cologne Providentia

and how about one minted by Aureolus FOR Postumus:

RI Postumus struck by Aureolus 268 CE Revolt of Milan Concordia

 

VERY NICE posts guys!!

Here are two of mine.....

 

Serapis was wildly popular among Romans. They had a fascination with anything and everything Egyptian, just as we do today. I remember when the the King Tut exhibit first toured the US - I was in high school in Seattle, and the whole town went nuts. Long lines to see the exhibit like it was Star Wars or something.

 

I saw it in Chicago... yeah, and I was a Senior in University... you are but a Babe in the Woods, @John Anthony !

 

When I was a kid we went to see the Tut exhibit in San Francisco, pretty cool! And around the time of Star Wars, too. Revisited again at the Cairo Museum back in 2011 on my four month trip to Egypt. I cris-crossed the country, went to all of the Oases (including Siwa, no tips from the oracle but that's OK) and visited all of the original nomes. I saw not just pharaonic but also Greco-Roman ruins.

 

Nice lookin' and a cool serapis reverse!



I guess I can keep posting my same ol' Postumus coin.

I remember that King tut exhibit, I was 8 or 9 I think.




I composed an adaptation at the time called "King Butt". It was quite popular at Forest Park Elementary that year.

 

Great coin, I almost bid on the OP coin too. Here's my one and only so far, with the Providentia reverse.

 

Postumus is one of my favorites. I don't have any of his really spectacular types but 'enough' of he ordinary ones. His coins span the time when silver pretty much disappeared from the coinage both in Rome and Gaul. Postumus' first coins were better silver than offered by the mainstream rulers but fell off to copper looking by the end. A collection of his coins should include both levels of 'silver' and one of his 'double' sestertii.
AR Salus


AE IOVI VICTORI


Galley double overstruck on a sestertius of Antoninus Pius

 

I remember that I lived across the Bay in Oakland at the time, those were some great memories.

 

Good looking OP and post coins. I don't have any yet, but am bidding on a few as I type..

 

Postumus, AD 260-269
Roman Billon Antoninianus; 2.84 g, 21.1 mm
Cologne, AD 265-68
Obv: IMP C POSTVMVS PF AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust, right
Rev: SALVS AVG, Aesculapius standing facing, head left, holding snake-entwined staff; globe at feet, right
Refs: RIC 86; Hunter 85, 86; Cohen 336; Sear 10985; DeWitte 280.

 

I'd love to have one of those double sestertii!

 

I had a handful of those last year from one of our CT friends in UK. They didn't last long. Ask @Jwt708 to show you what I think is the most magnificent bust of Postumus ever.

 

Huh?


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


Gotta be this one! The relief on the obverse is amazing.

 

That's the one! For those new to these types, many of them were overstruck on earlier sestertii, hence the rough surfaces - that's not from circulation or damage, but from the fact that the host coins were probably not annealed to a sufficient temperature before restriking. But that bust rivals the ones you see on Postumus' aureii.

 

The mints seem to have lost the knack of working large flans. Most are pretty ugly. Many are flattened a lot thinner than the overstruck ones. Were they earlier coins hammered flat?

 

I've indeed seen a few that appear to have been hammered out. Between the hammering and poor annealing and probably low-pressure striking they sure managed to churn out a bunch of big crappy coins, which are nonetheless very interesting to students of the Gallic Empire.

 

My double, which I'm happy with. Still waiting for an ant to call my name. That is a nice one, ACH!