442, Lot: 560. Estimate $300. Sold for $900. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Postumus. Romano-Gallic Emperor, AD 260-269. Denarius (19.5mm, 2.99 g, 12h). Offstrike from aureus dies. Uncertain mint. POSTVMVS PIVS [FELIX AVG], jugate, laureate busts of Postumus and Hercules right / HERCVLI INVICTO, Hercules standing left, holding club and lion-skin, right foot on the body of an Amazon, whose belt he is removing. Sondermann 11a.7 (this coin; early AD 268); Cf. Schulte (1983) 143 (aureus, same dies; beginning of AD 268); RIC V 348. VF, rough surfaces, traces of silver and gilding. Has been pierced in antiquity with a square nail, traces of an attempted second puncture. Excessively rare.

Bought from Lennox Gallery, 1997. Ex Harlan J. Berk BBS 94 (16 January 1997), lot 530.

This reverse type refers to the ninth of the twelve Labours of Hercules, in which he was required to acquire from Hippolyte, Queen of the Amazons, a girdle which had been given to her by Ares, the god of war.

The location of the mint at which the majority of the antoniniani of the first of the Gallic emperors were struck has been the subject of debate for many years. In RIC volume V, part 2, first published in 1933, it was identified as Lugdunum (Lyon), in southern France, but this has not been regarded as acceptable more recently. It seems likely that Postumus took over the Gallic mint which had been striking coins for members of the Valerianic dynasty after the defeat and execution of Saloninus, but it is also possible that mint personnel were despatched elsewhere. (This matter was discussed by Besly and Bland in the Cunetio hoard report, at pp. 57-58, and in the catalogue of coins they headed the list of Postumus’s coins simply ‘Principal Mint(s)’. Both Cologne and Trier were there regarded as possibilities.) The most recently published work on the antoniniani of Postumus and his successors is that by Schulzki (1996), hereafter referred to as AGK. Schulzki in turn discussed the possible location of Postumus’s mints (pp. 22-26) and, while affirming that the matter has still not been satisfactorily resolved, professed a personal preference for Trier as the source of most of the coins, with Cologne issuing just a few types, including those with unmistakeable abbreviations of the mint name in the reverse legend or across the field. Despite this he refers to Cologne only as ‘Mūnzstätte II’, with the majority of the coins struck at ‘Mūnzstätte I’.

In addition there are the antoniniani issued in Postumus’s name at Milan by the general Aureolus. The latter had been entrusted by Gallienus with the defence of Italy from attack from Gaul, but he subsequently rebelled and allied himself with Postumus. Gallienus himself was murdered by, or at the instigation of, a group of his own officers while his forces laid siege to Aureolus in Milan. The reverse legends of the coins struck there refer almost exclusively to the Equites and the various virtues ascribed to them. This term should be seen in this context as referring not to the so-called ‘Equestrian Order’ in Rome but to the rapid cavalry forces which Gallienus had established for frontier defence, and which Aureolus then commanded.

Somewhat bizarrely the catalogue of coins in AGK lists them simply in alphabetical order of reverse legends, entirely regardless of mint or date of issue. The catalogue of coins in this collection will order them firstly by mint (I, II and Milan), then by AGK Group (Gruppe) number and date of issue for each Group (see pp. 39-41) and finally by AGK number within each Group. RIC and Cunetio hoard numbers are also provided where applicable. AGK also provides a scale of rarity for each type, the grades being as follows:

 r5 unique
 r4 2-7 examples known
 r3 8-15 examples known
 r2 16-25 examples known
 r1 26-40 examples known
 s 41-100 examples known
 c1 101-200 examples known
 c2 201-500 examples known
 c3 501-1000 examples known
 c4 1001-2000 examples known
 c5 2001-5000 examples known
 c6 over 5000 examples known


These figures presumably refer only to the number of coins located by Schulzki in the course of research for his book, but they may be regarded nonetheless as a fairly reliable guide to the comparative rarity of particular types, so they are included in all the entries in this catalogue.

Preceding the antoniniani in this catalogue are four coins of types often referred to as denarii and quinarii, but which are best explained as offstrikes from dies intended for striking gold coins. References are primarily to Schulte (1983), therefore.

The standard reference work for the bronze coinages of Postumus is still that by Bastien (1967). Where applicable, each catalogue entry will include a Bastien number as well as one for RIC and for Banti (1987). The dating of the various consulates and Tribunician powers are taken from AGK, however, as the most recent publication on the reign.