Extremely Rare Postumus

Triton XX, Lot: 833. Estimate $50000. Sold for $60000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Postumus. Romano-Gallic Emperor, AD 260-269. AV Aureus (21mm, 5.61 g, 6h). Treveri (Trier) mint. Struck AD 262. IMP C POST–VMVS P F AVG, laureate and draped bust right / P M TR P III COS III P P, Postumus, togate, standing left, sacrificing over altar from patera with right hand, holding scepter in left. RIC V 4; Schulte Group 5, 39 (Av22/Rv26); Sondermann 5.9 (this coin); Elmer 303; Calicó 3758; Biaggi 1525 = Jameson 267. EF, lustrous. Fine style portrait. Extremely rare, possibly only the third known and the second in private hands.

From the Continental Collection. Ex Vecchi 16 (9 October 1999), lot 542.

Only two specimens were noted in Schulte’s die study: one example is housed in the British Museum (RIC pl. XIII, 4), the other being the Jameson/Biaggi specimen cited above. The latter sold in 2010 for over $61,000 (NAC 54, lot 568).

Due to the precarious situation within the Empire at the time, the Roman army in Gaul declared their general, Postumus, emperor after he led their successful defeat of the Iuthungi in AD 260. By the end of the following year, Postumus was also recognized in the provinces of Raetia, Upper and Lower Germany, Britain, and Spain. From the very beginning of his usurpation, it appears that Postumus’ attention focused solely on the territories he had already acquired, and not on a bid to overthrow Gallienus. Consequently, the administration of his empire closely paralleled that of Rome, and Postumus adopted the title of Pontifex Maximus, as well as assumed the consulship and tribunician power each year. These actions led some scholars to conclude that Postumus was attempting to position himself to achieve recognition from Gallienus as a sort of co-emperor. In AD 265, Gallienus finally attempted to dislodge Postumus from power, but was unsuccessful, thus allowing the usurper to continue to rule his Gallic empire until he was assassinated by disaffected troops in AD 269.