Unpublished and Apparently Unique Bust Type

442, Lot: 392. Estimate $300. Sold for $200. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Gallienus. AD 253-268. Antoninianus (20mm, 2.15 g, 11h). Mediolanum (Milan) mint. Issue 2(2), AD 260-1. GALLIENVS AVG, radiate and cuirassed(?) bust right; shield inscribed LEG/[ ]A on right shoulder / LEG VII CL VI P VI F, bull standing right. MIR 36, 1006 var. (bust type); RIC V (joint reign) 348 var. (same). Good Fine, some silver content, rough surfaces, minor deposits.

Ex Roma E-Sale 29 (27 August 2016), lot 584 (erroneous reverse reading of LEG IIII FL).

This extraordinary bust is unparalleled, not only in the legionary series, but apparently in the entire coinage of this period. The inscription on the shield aside, right-facing busts with shield but no spear do not seem to occur at all. This coin has at some time been heavily tooled to remove a layer of black silver sulphate corrosion product, and when I bid for it at the auction on the basis of online images, I took the chance that the bust variants might turn out to be the result of later tooling on a worn coin, but I am now convinced that it is from a genuine die. The details in the area of the shield show the same degree of wear as the rest of the obverse, and also had clearly been covered by the black corrosion layer, now mostly removed.