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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Orielensis, post: 7890396, member: 96898&quot;]Good observation. The early portrait style of Postumus differs significantly from the later style characterized by a slightly upturned nose, fuller lips and the lack of what I call the Gallienic overbite. In fact, Postumus on these earlier coins often looks like Gallienus with more beard. Apart from the Rhenus issue, the &quot;skinny&quot; Hercules Devsoniensis issue, some of the reverses that [USER=75143]@hotwheelsearl[/USER] fittingly calls &quot;spaghetti Victoria&quot; as well as some rarer gold and AE issues fall into this early portrait period. Compare, for example, the early portrait on this &quot;skinny Hercules&quot; antoninianus with the later portrait on the &quot;chunky Hercules&quot; coin that I posted above:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1361427[/ATTACH]</p><p><font size="3">Postumus, Gallic Roman Empire, AR antoninianus,&nbsp; mid–end 260 AD, Trier mint. Obv: IMP C POSTVMVS.P.F.AVG; bust of Postumus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, r. Rev: HERC DEVSONIENSI; Hercules stg. r., with r. hand leaning on club, and holding bow in l. hand and lion’s skin over I. arm. 23 mm, 3.57g. Ref: Mairat 15; RIC V Postumus 64.</font></p><p><br /></p><p>This &quot;spaghetti Victory&quot; also shows an early portrait. This type generally shows a lot of variety. I think it quite possible that [USER=84905]@Tejas[/USER] &#039; coin posted above is not unofficial but rather comes from the early issue when the emperor&#039;s portrait was not yet fully developed:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1361426[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><font size="3">Postumus, Gallic Roman Empire, BI antoninianus, mid–end 260 AD, Trier mint. Obv: IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG; bust of Postumus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, r. Rev: VICTORIA AVG; Victory running l., holding wreath in r. hand and palm against l. shoulder in l. hand, kicking bound and std. captive to l., with r. foot. 21mm, 3.76g. Ref: Mairat 19; RIC V Postumus 89.</font></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The hornless reverse variety with the river god holding a reed instead of an anchor is much rarer than the horned variety. Very nice coin!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>That&#039;s rather typical for the early Postumus issues. The circumstances at Postumus&#039; mint must have been rather chaotic in the first months, and it seems that the mint workers indiscriminately melted down old billon and silver to produce flans, leading to a broad spectrum of silver purity in their early issues.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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