Hello , recently I bought three silver(or billon) antoniniani of Gallienus , one is struck at Rome and the other two are Lyons mint. Even if they are not so well made , perfectly round and centred as the ones struck in the east , I prefer them , their style is much closer with the classical silver antoninianus we know. Please post your ''Lyons mint'' Gallienus coins ! AR antoninianus, joint reign, Lyons mint. RIC 10 var (bust type and dots in legend); GALLIENVS dot P dot F dot AVG, radiate, cuirassed bust left, holding spear and shield / DEO MARTI, tetrastyle temple with Mars standing left within, holding spear and resting hand on shield. AR antoninianus. Rome mint. AD 261. RIC 301, T GALLIENVS AVG, radiate, cuirassed bust right / VICTORIA AVG, Victory walking left, holding wreath and palm branch. T in left field. RIC V-1 (S), Rome 301 var (officina); AR Antoninianus. Lyons mint, AD 258-259. RIC 44[j] GALLIENVS P F AVG, radiate cuirassed bust left, holding spear and shield / VICT GERMANICA, Victory advancing left, carrying wreath and trophy, treading on captive left.
Really nice pickups! I especially like the left-facing one. The spaghetti victory reverse is awesome.
Three great coins! I agree the leftie bust with spear and shield is excellent. Note that Göbl gives both the DEO MARTI type and the VICT GERMANICA to Cologne. Here's my Mars: Gallienus.net is a useful site for checking the mints.
Thanks very much for that link! I always liked Gallienus, who must have had a very difficult life, losing his father and sons in horrible ways, fighting with waves and waves of intruders, and with wars followed by devastation and plagues. Gallienus has given coin collectors a huge and attractive field of coins that are often not expensive. Here's a nice green antoninianus showing a hippocamp that is chased by its own tail.
I'm seeing a radiate and cuirassed bust right on this one. And, as pointed out by Sev above, the old RIC mint attribution to Lugdunum has been corrected to Cologne by Göbl, amongst others. Anyway, all three coins are very nice! GALLIENUS Billon Antoninianus. 3.24g, 23.6mm. Cologne mint, AD 258-259. RIC 49; Cohen 1065; MIR 874m. O: GALLIENVS P F AVG, radite and cuirassed bust of Gallienus left, holding spear over his left shoulder and shield decorated with gorgoneion. R: VICT GERMANICA, Victory standing right on globe, holding trophy over her left shoulder and wreath in her right hand; two captives flanking globe.
The antoniniani from Cologne, especially those with references to the campaigns against the Germanic tribes on the reverse, are premium items. I especially like @singig 's third coin and @zumbly 's antoninian. That's an unusual and attractive bust type. Here is one from the same mint and series with a particularly atrocious nackbeard. Look at those curls: Gallienus, Roman Empire, AE antoninianus, 258–259 AD, Cologne mint. Obv: GALLIENVS P F AVG; bust of Gallienus, radiate, cuirassed, r. Rev: GERMANICVS MAX V; trophy between two captives. 20.5mm, 3.58g. Ref: RIC V Gallienus (joint reign) 18.
Nice acquisitions for your collection, @singig ! I like the left-facing one in particular. I only have two coins of Gallienus from Cologne. There's this one, featuring a rather cartoonish, boy-like rendition of the emperor on its reverse while advertising his virtus! Gallienus, AD 253-268. Roman billon antoninianus, 3.61 g, 21.1 mm, 12 h. Cologne, AD 257-258. Obv: GALLIENVS P F AVG, radiate and cuirassed bust, right. Rev: VIRTVS AVGG, Gallienus in military attire standing right, holding spear and standard. Refs: RIC 58F; Göbl 8821; Cohen 1309; RCV 10413; Hunter 58; ERIC II 1030. And the DEO MARTI type such as yours: Gallienus, AD 253-268. Roman billon antoninianus, 2.39 g, 21.6 mm, 6 h. Cologne, AD 257-258. Obv: GALLIENVS P F AVG, radiate and cuirassed bust, right. Rev: DEO MARTI, Mars standing left in tetrastyle temple, holding shield and spear. Refs: RIC 10F var. (joint reign); Göbl 889h; RSC 149a (Lugdunum); RCV --. Valerian's DEO VOLKANO type was minted there, too: Valerian I, AD 253-260. Roman AR antoninianus, 2.69 g, 21.2 mm, 7 h. Colonia Agrippina (Cologne) mint, AD 259-260. Obv: VALERIANVS·P·F·AVG, radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right. Rev: DEO VOLKANO, Vulcan standing left within tetrastyle temple, hammer raised in right hand, tongs downward in left. Refs: RIC 5 (inaccurately attributed to the Lugdunum mint); Cohen 2 (inaccurately attributed to Valerian II); RSC 50c; Göbl 884d; Hunter IV 56; RCV 9934.
Thank you all ! Seems to be the same problem as for Antioch mint (Göbl) and Asia mint (RIC). I used RIC(wildwinds.com and OCRE) to identify the coins , they are declared Lyons(Lugdunum) mint. Which should be the real mint to use ? Lyons or Cologne ?
I tend to like the good silver coins of Gallienus rather than the later AE washed ones. Nevertheless, here's an AE from late in the reign.
He's got his descriptions above the coin, @zumbly. (Or else I'm very confused, which is entirely possible. I was one of those kids who wasn't sure about left and right for an embarrassingly long time... ) I think I have it on good authority that Göbl's arguments were cogent and Cologne is now the consensus opinion. Though I can't say I remember exactly whose authority it was that gives me such confidence...
Nice thread and lovely coins shown..... Gallienus, Antoninianus, Minted AD 258-259 (Joint reign) Obverse..GALLIENVS dot P dot F dot AVG Radiate, curaissed bust right Reverse..GERMANICVS MAX V trophy between two seated and bound German captives RIC VI#18 variant obv legend dots..Cologne
I did a nice copy/paste from wildwinds.com without verifying the text in detail. They have reversed the descriptions for the two DEO MARTI types
I tried to find an explanation why Göbl replaced Lyons mint(attributed by RIC) with Cologne mint , difficult to find something clear , but for sure its work is more recent and specialised and should be trusted. A possible explanation can be found in this study ''The Coinage of the Gallic Empire'' 2014 , I only searched for some key words , it has 841 pages : https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:58eb4e43-a6d5-4e93-adeb-f374b9749a7f/download_file?safe_filename=Volume_1.pdf&file_format=application/pdf&type_of_work=Thesis ''...........An important part of the mint attributions for the third century are, still today, based on the works of the great Austrian scholar Vœtter. He attributed Gallienus’s Gallic coinage to the mint of Lyon. The stylistic link with the first coins in Postumus’s name being previously recognized, the later works of the early 20th century were understandably influenced by Vœtter's attribution: Lyon was usually considered to be Postumus’s main mint, while other mints were often attributed speculatively to different cities...........''
There's a good English translation of Elmer's 1941 paper on the mints and coinage of the Gallic emperors available online. It's the first that puts forward as Cologne the mint of Gallienus that Voetter and Webb earlier assigned to Lugdunum (Lyon).
