Thoughts on authenticity of Valerian I antoninianus coin?

I agree with Finn235 on this matter and it probably explains why so many beginners start with a Gordian and fewer with Valerian. The problem is both the decreasing quality of the metal and the overall workmanship. By the time Valerian entered the scene, Roman silver coins had been debased about as far as you can go and still have coins that look silver even if you are using the 'cheat' of surface enrichment (acid bathing the flans to remove copper in the alloy near the surface). Finn's coin is a good example of the other problem. The reverse die is worn beyond a point that the earlier reigns would have replaced it. There are some well made and good looking coins of Valerian but there are more that show problems either from metal or quality control. It is hard to find a Gordian or Philip that does not look better than this but more than a few Valerians are much worse.

On the good side, there are sellers who do not have a grasp on this and sell Valerians based on how they look compared to the earlier standards so the patient buyer can find a bargain now and then. Those same sellers usually don't mark down the Gordians. If a XF/AU is worth only $40, the VF coins can still be attractive but should be half that price or less. Finn also pointed out the other matter of importance: Philip has quite a few reverses that are better than average and strike me as worth a premium. People make fun of my statements calling some reverses 'someone standing there' but there are some of us who prefer some lion standing there, some elephant standing there or even someone standing there surrounded by an upgrade legend rather than the simple 'xxxxAVG' formula.
Three Philips


SPES FELICITATIS ORBIS Hope for world happiness (just walking there)


I do not own a Gordian III that I feel has a 'special' reverse. Does anyone have anything that is not a just someone 'just standing, sitting, walking etc.' ? My closest is the denarius with Gordian on horseback.

 

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double post, please remove

 

Never Mind..

 

Gallienus most definitely issued clearly silvered issues in a billon so deficient in AR that it might as well described as Æ as billon.
Gallienus' silvered issues begin in the early 360's, not long after the defeat of Valerian by the Sasanians.
Of course, the differences from mint-to-mint need to be taken into account - Antioch seemed to manage to strike in a clearly silvery billon throughout Gallienus' time while Rome was clearly silvering as early as 262 or thereabouts.


Gallienus, billon Antoninianus, 21mm, 3.93gm, 11h
Mint of Antioch, 265 A.D.
Obv: GALLIENVS AVG radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
Rx: SAECVLARHS (sic) AVG stag standing right, branch in exergue
RIC V, i S656, RSC 924, SR 10345.


Silvered "billon" from Rome mint,
Gallienus, silvered Antoninianus, 21mm, 4.56g, 1h.
Mint of Rome, 265-267 A.D.
Obv: GALLIENVS AVG radiate head right.
Rx: SECVRIT PERPET Securitas standing left, legs crossed, holding scepter and leaning on column; in field right: H.
RIC V, i S280; RSC 961a; SR 10359.

Another - not as pretty as the last but shows the silvering more clearly

Gallienus, silvered Antoninianus
22mm, 2.78g, 12h. Mint of Rome, 264-266 A.D.
Obv: GALLIENVS AVG radiate head right.
Rx: IOVI PROPVGNAT Jupiter standing facing, head left, holding thunderbolt; field left: XI.
RIC V, i S214; RSC 382a; SR 10244.

It's possible that you associate silvering with Aurelian due to the coinage reforms he instituted. One of these was an improvement of the silvering process. You'll notice that surviving silvering is far easier to find among the coins of the Illyrians (Probus, for instance). Finding sole-reign Gallienus ants from mints other than Antioch which are silvery billon or clearly show silvering is difficult - not unlike how difficult it is (despite all of them having originally been silvered) to find a silvered Constantinian era GLORIA EXERCITVS or other centenionalis of that enormous issue. The silvering was so 2nd rate by that time that few realize all the centenionales (and later, the FEL TEMP majorinae) were silvered.

Constantine I, 307-337 A.D. silvered billon centenionails
18mm, 2.81g, 12h. Mint of Alexandria, 333-35 A.D.
Obv: CONSTANTINVS MAX AVG laurel & rosette diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right.
Rx: GLORIA EXERCITVS 2 Soldiers standing facing, holding spears and leaning on shields; between them, 2 standards; in ex: SMALB.
RIC VII 58; LRBC 1428; Cf. SR ('88) 3886.

 

Thank you for this very thorough clarification of something that has been puzzling me for a while. This was very helpful.