442, Lot: 564. Estimate $300. Sold for $360. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Postumus. Romano-Gallic Emperor, AD 260-269. Antoninianus (21mm, 3.60 g, 12h). Mint I. Group Ia (AD 260). IMP C M CASS LAT POSTIMVS (sic) P F AVG, radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / SALVS PROVINCIARVM, river-god reclining left, holding pitcher and reed; prow of ship on right. AGK 87a (r2); RIC V 87 var. (obv. legend); Cunetio 2367. VF, good silver content. Rare.

Bought from CGB, Paris, 2013. Ex CGB Rome 34 (2013), no. brm247569.

The incorrect spelling of Postumus’s name and the less than realistic nature of the portrait, which closely resembles that of Gallienus, both suggest that those charged with cutting the dies for his earliest coinage were unfamiliar with the name and appearance of the new emperor. This may be an indication that the coins were struck at a location where Postumus himself was not present. For a brief discussion of this reverse type, see the section on river-gods in the introductory chapter entitled Religion and divine protection.