Volusian at his best

[Tejas]

3 hours ago, dougsmit said:

There are many more than two.  No one is forcing anyone to post on more than one if that bothers them.

That is of course true, but my impression is that Coin Talk and now Numis Forum are the two main ones and it would be much better if all the action was focused on one forum rather than split in two.

Anyway, back to coins: Here is my best Volusianus. Obverse and reverse were struck from fresh dies and show no signs of wear and tear. I like the expressive portrait. I think this coin is hard to improve on.

Obv.: IMP CAE C VIB VOLVSIANO AVC

Rev.: PM TR PIII COS II

Mint: Rome

Year: AD 253

Weight: 3.76g (7h), 21mm

RIC IV 140; RSC 92

 

 

 

Edited October 21, 2022 by Tejas

[Tejas]

4 hours ago, dougsmit said:

The common and slightly worn Pax antoninianus is more my kind of coin.  What do you consider the meaning of the star?  Also note the dative legend on this and other Volusian coins. 

 

Both varieties, with and without star seems to have been produced at Rome. Maybe the star marked out a certain officina? But then again, on coins of his father with PAX reverse there is never a star, as far as I can see.

[Tejas]

4 hours ago, Severus Alexander said:

I gather from Richard Beale's excellent site that 1) the Milan mint idea was just a mistake, and 2) the postulation of a branch mint is based on a disproportionate number of particular types being found in the Balkans.  (And attribution is primarily based on type rather than any style considerations.)  Quoting Beale

Many thanks for the info and the link, that is very interesting and useful.

[Tejas]

17 hours ago, Prieure de Sion said:

 

Gaius Vibius Afinius Gallus Veldumnianus Volusianus as Caesar
Antoninianus of the Roman Imperial Period 251 AD
Material: Billon Silver
Diameter: 20mm
Weight: 3.56g
Mint: Rome
Reference: RIC IV Volusian 134
Obverse: Bust of Volusian, radiate, draped, right. The Inscription reads: C VIBIO VOLVSIANO CAES for Caius Vibius Volusianus, Caesar.
Reverse: Volusian, draped, standing left, holding wand in right hand and reversed spear in left hand. The Inscription reads: PRINCIPI IVVENTVTIS for Principi Juventutis (To the prince of the youth).

 

Uups - i see that a have a 2nd Volusian in the box as Caesar.

Very nice. Coins of Volusian as Caesar are much rarer than his coins as Augustus. I recognize your coin. It was sold by CNG not too long ago.

[Ursus]

17 hours ago, Tejas said:

Is it just style?

Mattingly, the author of the respective RIC volume, assumed there had been two western mints (Rome and Milan) because of the different obverse legends. He considered coins of Volusian and Trebonianus Gallus bearing obverse legends beginning with "IMP C C VIB" to be from Milan, and those reading "IMP CAE C VIB" from Rome.

@Severus Alexanderhas given the arguments that disproved Mattingly's theory above.

Edited October 21, 2022 by Ursus

[Prieure de Sion]

3 hours ago, Tejas said:

Very nice. Coins of Volusian as Caesar are much rarer than his coins as Augustus. I recognize your coin. It was sold by CNG not too long ago.

Thank you. However, he has already moved on and found a buyer in France. I wish the new owner much joy with this beautiful coin.

[mc9]

@Tejas,

Nice addition to your collection. Here an antoninianus and a sestertius of Trebonianus Gallus and Volusianus.

Trebonianus Gallus

 

Ric IVc 39;    IMP CAE C VIB TREB GALLUS AVG ;    LIBERTAS AVGG ;     Rome ;    Antoninianus

 

RIC IVc 126a ( variant ) ,    IMP CAE VIB C VIBIUS TREBONIANUS GALLUS AVG ;    VIRTUS AVGG S/C ;     Rome ;    17.13 gr ;   Sestertius

In RIC only with CAES C and not CAESAR C

 

Volusianus

RIC IVc 230a ;    IMP C V AF GAL VEND VOLUSIANO AVG //. ;    PAX AVGVS //. ;    Antiochia

 

RIC 249a ;    IMP CAE C VIB VOLUSIANO AVG ;     CONCORDIA AVGG S/C ;     Rome ;    18.93 gr ;    Sestertius

 

[Roman Collector]

I have too many Volusian coins to post, so here are a couple of favorites.

I like this sestertius.

 

Volusian as Augustus, AD 251-253.
Roman orichalcum sestertius, 17.26 g, 27. 4 mm 10 h.
Rome, AD 252.
Obv: IMP CAE C VIB VOLVSIANO AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust, right.
Rev: FELICITAS PVBLICA S C, Felicitas standing left, leaning on column, holding caduceus in right hand and transverse scepter in left hand.
Refs: RIC 251a; Cohen 35; RCV 9786; Hunter 39.

But my favorite is this provincial, one of the last coins in the Roman provincial series to depict the Three Graces.

Volusian as Augustus, late AD 251-AD 253.
Roman provincial Æ 20.1 mm, 5.91 g, 1 h.
Bithynia, Nicaea, AD 151.
Obv: ΑΥ Κ ΒΕΙΒ ΓΑΛΛΟC ΟΥΟΛΟCCΙΑΝΟC, radiate head, right.
Rev: ΝΙΚ Α Ι Ε ΩΝ, Three Graces standing side by side, hair in bun: Grace 1 head left, Graces 2 and 3 heads right, holding undefined objects.
Refs: RPC IX, 311; Sear GI 4366; BMC 13.174,139-140; SNG Von Aulock 712; Imhoof-Blumer NC 201; Waddington RG 498,784; Von Vacano 392; Staal 53.1.1; Weiser 165-167.

 

 

[Tejas]

Here is another Volusian from my collection. A common type, but EF and a portrait of the finest style

Obv.: IMP CAE C VIB VOLVSIANO AVG
Rev.: AEQVITAS AVGG
Mint: Rome
Year: 253 (?)

RIC IV 166

[Edessa]

Volusian, AD 251-253. AR Antoninianus (21mm, 3.53g, 1h). Obv: IMP CAE C VIB VOLVSIANO AVG; Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right. Rev: PAX-AVGG; Pax standing left, holding branch and sceptre. Ref: RIC IV 179; RSC 70. Very Fine, nicely toned. Ex DNW, 22 Oct 2009, Lot 66. 

[Marsyas Mike]

I hope it is okay to bring up this thread again; I do so because I just got an interesting Volusian antoninanus "mule" with a reverse type for Trebonianus Gallus (per "Four Bad Years" site noted in several posts above).  Since I didn't see one like this in the post, I thought I'd add it (note it is PAX AETERNA, not PAX AVGG). Here it is, with notes from the "Four Bad Years" site:

Volusian Antoninianus (251-253 / c. mid-253 A.D.) Milan  (RIC) / Branch or Rome Mint, 5th emission? IMP C C VIB VOLVSIANVS AVG, radiate, draped, cuirassed bust right / PAX AETERNA, Pax standing left, holding branch and sceptre RIC IV Volusian 211; RSC 66. (2.89 grams / 23 x 20 mm) eBay Mar. 2023 (France)  $20.10

Branch Mint (RIC incorrectly attributes these to Milan) This issue had long been attributed to Milan. In The Cunetio Treasure, Besly and Bland showed that the existence of hybrids that combined both the so-called Milan mint, with the Rome mint proved that these special issue coins (or fifth issue) were either minted by the Rome mint, or at least by dies supplied by that mint. According to Jérôme Mairat in Rome XI – Trébonien Galle au Coeur de l’Anarchie Militaire, these special issue coins are found disproportionally higher in hoards of the Balkan regions so it seems that although the coins were minted at Rome, they were shipped to the Balkans to fund the war against the Goths. Besly and Bland also showed that this special issue was contemporary with issue two and three of Gallus Rome issues.

Volusian Coins with Reverses Proper to Gallus sonic.net/~marius1/mysite/Volusian Branch.htm

Here is another oddity - one from the Antioch Mint with the unusual spelling VOLVSSIANVS with VDERITAS reverse.  It does not appear to have much to do with silver!

Volusian  Æ Antoninianus (251-253 A.D.) Antioch Mint, 4th Officina IMP C V AF GAL VEND VOLVSSIANVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right, .... below / VDERITAS AVG, Uberitas standing left holding cornucopiae and purse, .... below. RIC Volusian IV 237c var. (....). (3.09 grams / 25 x 21 mm) eBay Aug. 2017 

Notes:  Officina IV only one for subtype c in OCRE/RIC; "Four Bad Years" has iiv and iv. Example with ... is here: Auktionshaus H. D. Rauch Auct. 94; Lot 1231; 09.04.2014 RIC 237c.var (Offizin), RSC 125h.var (dito). (Wildwinds) 

"Misspelled UDERITAS, a common error existing on many dies and mentioned in nearly every book..." (Four Bad Years)

 

 

[Barnaba6]

On 10/20/2022 at 12:08 PM, Tejas said:

I would like to show an Antoninian of Volusian, which I received today and which is quite remarkable in terms of both, condition and portrait style.

Beautiful coin indeed and in great style. Congrats!

[Pellinore]

Volusianus, a short-lived but full-fledged emperor, as a soldier did not come out of the shadow of his father Trebonianus Gallus. However, there are a good many coins of him, and here are two nice Provincials. 

 

AE Volusianus (251-253), Eukarpeia, Phrygia. Obv. Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right. AV K OVOΛOVCCIA. Rev. Artemis standing facing, drawing arrow from quiver, holding bow, on left a stag, on right a small cult-statue of Kybele. EVKAPΠEΩN. 24 mm, 5.95 gr.

 

AE Trebonianus and Volusianus (251-253). Antiochia, Seleucis and Pieria. Obv. Father T left and son V right, both with a radiate and draped bust. Rev. Portable shrine with four columns enclosing statue of Tyche seated facing, with river god (Orontes) facing, at her feet; above, ram running right; carry-bars at the base of the shrine! 31 mm, 17.82 gr. Cf. RPC IX 1853. 

[Julius Germanicus]

If anybody needs a nice Sestertius of Volusian, this specimen of the Julius Germanicus Collection is on sale at Künker´s eAuction 77 right now:

IMP CAE C VIB VOLVSIANO AVG / PAX AVGG S C
Sestertius, Rome 251-252

30 mm / 19,30 gr
RIC 256a, Cohen 74, Sear 9790

ex Lucernae Numismatics, 04.07.2016 

[Orange Julius]

2 hours ago, Julius Germanicus said:

If anybody needs a nice Sestertius of Volusian, this specimen of the Julius Germanicus Collection is on sale at Künker´s eAuction 77 right now:

IMP CAE C VIB VOLVSIANO AVG / PAX AVGG S C
Sestertius, Rome 251-252

30 mm / 19,30 gr
RIC 256a, Cohen 74, Sear 9790

ex Lucernae Numismatics, 04.07.2016 

This may have been asked elsewhere as I’ve noticed several of your posts… I’m curious, are you selling off your collection or just selling lesser coins to get upgrades?

[Julius Germanicus]

3 hours ago, Orange Julius said:

This may have been asked elsewhere as I’ve noticed several of your posts… I’m curious, are you selling off your collection or just selling lesser coins to get upgrades?

I am selling off my extras now, but will also very likely sell my upgraded core collection of one quality Sestertius per Emperor (the most complete Sestertius portrait set that I know of including many rarities) at a couple of auctions in summer. 

Edited April 8, 2023 by Julius Germanicus