Emperors of Rome - A (Chronological) Portrait Gallery

[Ursus]

A western and an eastern sole reign Gallienus, and on top an antoninian of Salonina from Antioch with her husband on the reverse:

Gallienus, Roman Empire, BI antoninianus, 260–268 AD, Rome mint. Obv: GALLIENVS AVG; bust of Gallienus, radiate, r. Rev: VBERITAS AVG; Uberitas, draped, standing l., holding purse in r. hand and cornucopiae in l. hand; in field r., E. 22mm, 4.44g. Ref: RIC V Gallienus 287.

Gallienus, Roman Empire, BI antoninian, 263/4 AD, Antioch mint (7th emission). Obv: GALLIENVS P F AVG; bust of Gallienus, cuirassed, radiate, r. Rev: VIRTVS AVGVSTI; Hercules, standing r,, holding club in right hand and lion-skin in left hand (type of the Farnese Hercules). 21.5mm, 4.01g. Ref: RIC V Gallienus 672; MIR 36, 1616b.

Salonina, Roman Empire, BI antoninian, 255–256 AD, Antioch mint. Obv: SALONINA AVG; bust of Salonina, diademed, draped, on crescent, r. Rev: ROMAE AETERNAE; Gallienus, standing r., receiving Victory from Roma, seated l., holding spear in l. hand. 21mm, 3.83g. Ref: RIC V Salonina 67; MIR 36, 1605c.

[Hughie Dwyer]

Here is a very worn Gallienus but a Gallienus nonetheless!

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

 Gallienus, sole reign, uncleaned hoard example. Stag walking right

Gallienus aureus (sole reign, illustrative example of vocative case) 

legend: UBIQVE PAX (Peace everywhere!) not my coin, but a bit humorous

 

 

[Severus Alexander]

5 hours ago, Julius Germanicus said:

Have we moved on to Salonina and the sole reign of Gallienus yet?

No.  All you guys who jumped the gun have been scratched off the million dollar prize list. 😆

It’s not until 7pm Eastern, as determined by our thread Caesar, @CPK.

Edited March 3 by Severus Alexander

[Julius Germanicus]

1 hour ago, Severus Alexander said:

No.  All you guys who jumped the gun have been scratched off the million dollar prize list. 😆

It’s not until 7pm Eastern, as determined by our thread Caesar, @CPK.

Oooops, I‘m in Germany and got caught by the time shift 🫣

[John Conduitt]

3 hours ago, Severus Alexander said:

No.  All you guys who jumped the gun have been scratched off the million dollar prize list. 😆

It’s not until 7pm Eastern, as determined by our thread Caesar, @CPK.

Hmm I think this comes from having a timetable that says '3 March' and then having a cut off time that is on the 4th March for half the world. 06:00 EST is the ideal, as it would be 3 March in both Hawaii and Kiribati.

[CPK]

I don't mind shifting the start time to make things easier for our non-US members. How about moving it back to 3pm EST? That would make it 8pm in the UK and 9pm in France/Germany.

Unfortunately there's only so much we can do to help the Aussies among us, 😜 but maybe we can get the majority of the members on the same day.

Thoughts, anyone? We could go earlier too, if that will work better.

[Octavius]

 Well. it's 7:25PM EST, so...

two Antoniniani with good silvering of Gallienus...

[Jims,Coins]

Bronze Coin (AE Antoninianus) minted at Rome during the reign of GALLIENUS between 253 – 268 A.D. Obv. GALLIENVS.P.F.AVG. rad., dr. & cuir. bust r. Rev. VIRTVS.AVG.: Helmeted Soldier stg. l., with spear and shield, star in l. field. RICVa #324 pg.159. RCSVIII #10401. VF-EF, centered, slight striking weakness at obv. Left & rev right edges; silvered surfaces with moderate tone.

Bronze Coin (AE Antoninianus) minted at Rome during the reign of GALLIENUS between 264 - 266 A.D. Obv. IMP.GALLIENVS.AVG.: Rev. PAX.AETERNA.AVG.: Pax standing l., holding olive-branch & transverse sceptre, Officina mark A in ex. RSCIV #719. RICV #S252. DVM #192. RCSVIII #10299.

[DonnaML]

Two Saloninas (the first is actually from the joint reign period):

Salonina (wife of Gallienus), Billon Antoninianus, 257-258 AD, Cologne Mint. Obv. Diademed bust draped right, on crescent, SALONINA AVG / Rev. Vesta seated left on throne holding Palladium and transverse scepter, VESTA. RIC V-1 70, RSC IV 142, Sear RCV III 10664. 22 mm., 3.4 g.

Salonina (wife of Gallienus), Billon Tetradrachm, 266-267 AD (Year 14), Alexandria, Egypt mint.  Obv. Draped bust right, wearing stephane (Milne obv. type t4), KOPNHΛIA CAΛѠNЄINA CЄB / Rev. Tyche wearing long chiton and peplum, crowned with modius, reclining left on lectisternium* adorned with double garland, resting right hand on rudder, resting left elbow on arm of lectistermium and supporting head with left hand, LIΔ (Year 14) in left field, palm branch in exergue. 23.6 mm., 10.94 g. Emmett 3865.14 (R2), Milne 4140 at p. 99, K&G 91.47 (ill. p. 323), BMC 16 Alexandria 2266 at p. 294, Sear RCV III 10716, Dattari (Savio) 5342, Köln (Geissen) 2982.  Purchased from Marc R. Breitsprecher Oct. 2021. Ex Stack’s Coin Galleries Mail Bid Sale, Nov. 13, 1985, part of Lot 209 (with original coin tag). 

Original Coin Tag:

*Definition of lectisternium at https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Lectisternium:

“Lectisternium, a species of sacrifice, at which, in times of great public calamity, the gods themselves were invited to a solemn feast. Their statues were taken from their pedestals, and they were laid on pulvinaria, or lecti, that is to say, on beds prepared purposely for their reception in the temples, with pillows under their heads, and in this posture they were each day of the festival served with a magnificent banquet, which the priests never failed to clear away in the evening. There were tables set out in all the different quarters of the city, to which everyone, without distinction, was admitted. . . .

The word lectisternium signifies the act of making or preparing beds. It is derived from lectus, a bed, and sternere, to raise, prepare, and spread. The word also designates sometimes the bed itself, on which is placed the statue of the divinity in honour of whom the above mentioned ceremony of the lectistern was celebrated.” (Emphasis added.)

Two sole reign Gallienus antoniniani with lions, minted in Antioch:

Gallienus, Billon Antoninianus, 264-265 AD, Antioch Mint, 12th emission (Göbl MIR and Reinhardt). Obv. Radiate, draped & cuirassed bust right, two ribbons behind, seen from behind, GALLIENVS AVG / Rev. Lion, radiate, advancing left, holding thunderbolt in his jaws, P M TR P XII; in exergue, C VI PP [CVI = COS VI]. RIC 601 var. (obv. bust left); RSC IV 842 var. (obv. bust left; palm branch in rev. exergue); Göbl MIR [Moneta Imperii Romani] Band 36, No. 1620i (not ill. at Ed Flinn’s site; this bust type not ill. in Reinhardt). Purchased from Leu Numismatik AG, Winterthur, Switzerland, Web Auction 21, 19 Jul 2022, Lot 4893; ex Collection of Dipl.-Ing. [ = Engineering Master’s Degree] Adrian Lang, b. Germany 1956 [see https://leunumismatik.com/source/images/auction/36/pdf/b2acb9be-1e8d-4395-a863-6c5c7c37ed4b.pdf for biography]. [Leu describes this variety of the type as “Very rare,” with three examples recorded in Göbl MIR; acsearch lists seven examples including this coin.]*

*See Woods, David, "From Caracalla to Carausius: The Radiate Lion with Thunderbolt in its Jaws," British Numismatic Journal 88 (British Numismatic Society 2018) at pp. 189-194, explaining that this type was “first used by the emperor Caracalla (211−17) in 215 and last used by the British usurper Carausius (286−93) and his continental contemporaries Diocletian (284−305) and Maximian (286−305).” According to the author, “the radiate lion with a thunderbolt in its jaws was a symbol of [imperial] courage. The fact that the emperor during whose reign this type was first used [Caracalla] was strongly interested in Alexander the Great encourages the belief that traditions concerning Alexander the Great may have influenced the design of this symbol. The match between the main elements of two ominous dreams experienced by the parents of Alexander before his birth and the main elements of this symbol, a lion and a thunderbolt, suggest a connection between the two. [See article for details on these dreams.] The fact that these dreams were understood as omens of how courageous Alexander would be confirms this connection.” Id. p. 193. The purpose of the crown on the lion’s head “may have been to denote royal or imperial status” (id. p. 191), reinforcing the reference to imperial courage.

Gallienus, Billon Antoninianus, 264-265 AD, Antioch Mint, 11th emission (Göbl MIR and Reinhardt).*  Obv. Radiate head left, two ribbons behind, GALLIENVS AVG / Rev. Lion walking left (not radiate), bucranium [bull’s head] in front of paws, P M TR P XIII; in exergue, C VI PP [CVI = COS VI], palm branch left below. RIC V-1 602 var. obv. [bust draped & cuirassed] & rev. [lion radiate]; RSC IV 847 var. rev. [lion radiate]; Sear RCV III 10327 var. rev. [lion radiate]; Göbl MIR [Moneta Imperii Romani] Band 36, No. 1622a [ill. at Ed Flinn’s site Coinage of Gallienus and Family, at http://www258.pair.com/denarius/coinage.htm, and at Reinhardt p. 340, no. 5 (Frank Reinhardt, José de Sousa, & Heidemarie Bieker, Gallienus Antoninianii, The Antoninianii Collection of Gallienus by Frank Reinhardt (Eng. trans. 2022), available at https://www.academia.edu/77282280/GALLIENUS_ANTONINIANII_English_version_PDF )]. 21 mm., 4.05 g., 12 h.**

*See Euston, Charles, "Gallienus to Antioch? A new PROFECTIO type of antoninianus from the mint at Antioch, A.D. 264," in Bulletin du cercle d’études numismatiques [BCEN] 52/2 (2015), at p. 2: “Göbl’s 11th emission begins with another lion reverse; lion (not radiate), left with a bull’s head between its paws (MIR 1622). This reverse is also dated, but to Gallienus’ 13th tribunician power (TRP XIII). Interestingly, this type straddles both the 12th and the 11th emissions as it exists both with and without the palm frond as exergual marker. This mark in the exergue is, in fact, the primary indicator of the 11th emission.”

**See Manders, Erika (2012), Coining Images of Power: Patterns in the Representation of Roman Emperors on Imperial Coinage, A.D. 193–284. Impact of Empire (Roman Empire, c. 200 B.C.–A.D. 476), at pp. 296-297 [portions available on Google Books], stating that “[f]our coin types [of Gallienus] [NB: in fact, there were more than four] bear a legend consisting of standard imperial titalature and show a lion with a bull’s head between his paws or a radiate lion (sometimes with a bull’s head between his paws). . . . These types might refer to the victories of Odaenathus [of Palmyra], Rome’s ally, gained over the Persians, probably in 262-263 and 267. This hypothesis is strengthened by the thirteenth Sybilline Oracle’s description of the Persians as ‘venom spitting beasts’ who have been destroyed by Odaenathus, the ‘sun-sent, dreadful, fearful lion, breathing much fire.’” Other authorities have expressed skepticism regarding this interpretation.  See, e.g., Woods, David, "From Caracalla to Carausius: The Radiate Lion with Thunderbolt in its Jaws," British Numismatic Journal 88 (British Numismatic Society 2018) at pp. 189-194 (arguing at p. 193 that the Manders interpretation is unconvincing for various reasons, that the radiate lion with thunderbolt symbolizes imperial courage [see footnote to Gallienus coin depicting radiate lion with thunderbolt in its mouth], and that for emperors who issued both types [Probus and Gallienus], the iconographical differences between the two types were probably of no significance).

Gallienus Zoo Series coins to follow later.

[Severus Alexander]

We're getting into a period where it starts to be difficult to find lifelike portraits. I picked this sole-reign Gallienus because I thought it did well on this measure:

Rome mint. According to Alföldi, the VICTORIA AVG III coins were issued to celebrate the victory over Regalianus.

My silliest Gallienus portrait is on this barb (imitates a SPES reverse):

 

Salonina:

5 hours ago, CPK said:

How about moving it back to 3pm EST?

Sounds like a good move to me!

1 hour ago, DonnaML said:

Salonina (wife of Gallienus), Billon Antoninianus, 257-258 AD, Cologne Mint. Obv. Diademed bust draped right, on crescent, SALONINA AVG / Rev. Vesta seated left on throne holding Palladium and transverse scepter, VESTA. RIC V-1 70, RSC IV 142, Sear RCV III 10664. 22 mm., 3.4 g.

Really great Salonina portrait, @DonnaML! I like the tet too. (I think some of the best Gallienus portraits are on Egyptian tetradrachms... I don't think we've seen one yet.)

[CPK]

@Severus Alexander That first one is a really fine Gallienus portrait - unusually life-like! 👍 

[mc9]

I start with Salonina :

 

SALONINA AVG : veiled and draped bust right, wearing stephane; set on crescent

IVNO REGINA : Juno standing left, holding patera and sceptre; star to upper left, peacock at feet to left

AD 254-268, Antioch, Antoninianus, RIC Va 92

 

SALONINA AVG : draped bust right, wearing stephane and set on crescent

DEAE SE GE TIAE : Segetia, orans , standing facing within tetrastyle temple.

Antoninianus, Colonia Agrippinensis,  AD 258-259, RIC Va 5

CORNELIA SALONINA AVG :  Diademed and draped bust right

IVNO REGINA / S – C : Juno standing facing, head left, with patera and sceptre

As, A.D.255-256, Rome, RIC 53;  MIR 228f.

[shanxi]

Gallienus 

Gallienus
Billon-Antoninian, Antiochia
Obv.: GALLIENVS AVG, Radiate and cuirassed bust right.
Rev.: VIRTVS AVG, Gallienus, laureate, standing right, holding transverse spear and globe right, branch in ex
Billon, 4.04g, 20.8mm
Ref.: RIC 670, Kamp. 90.308.3

[mc9]

Some Gallienus sole reign coins:

GALLIENVS AVG : radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right

MARS VICTOR, Mars advancing right, holding spear and shield

AD 253-268. Antioch Antoninianus RIC V 469

GALLIENVS AVG :  Radiate bust of Gallienus right

PROVIDENTIA AVG : Mercury standing front, head left, holding purse in right hand and caduceus in left

Antoninianus, Antiochia, RIC 653 var

GALLIENVS AVG : radiate, draped bust right, 3.43 g. mint.

LVNA LVCIF : Luna Lucifera standing right, with long torch in hands

Antoninianus, RIC 646

GALLIENVS P F AVG : radiate and cuirassed bust right

VIRTVS AVGVSTI : Hercules standing right, holding club and lion's skin; star in right field.

Antoninianus, Antioch, AD 260-268, RIC Va 672

GALLIENVS AVG : Radiate and cuirassed bust of Gallienus to right

FIDES AVG / P XV : Mercury standing front, head  left, holding purse in right hand and caduceus in his left

Antoninianus, Antiochia, A.D.266-267, RIC 607; MIR 1667k

GALLIENVS AVG : radiate and cuirassed bust of Gallienus right

CONSERVATOR AVG, : Asculapius standing facing on prow, head left, resting on serpent-entwined staff                                               

Antoninianus,  Antiochia, A.D. 265/6, RIC 632

GALLIENVS AVG : Radiate head of Gallienus to right. Rev.

PROVI AVG / II : Providentia standing front, head left, holding wand over globe in right hand and cornucopiae in her left.

Antoninianus, Siscia, A.D.267,  RIC 580

GALLIENVS AVG : radiate head to right

 FORTVNA REDVX : Fortuna standing to left, holding rudder and cornucopiae, ς in right field

Antoninianus, Rome, AD 265-268, RIC Va 193

 

IMP C P LIC GALLIENVS AVG : laureate, draped and cuirassed bust r

VIRTVS AVGG : soldier standing l., holding spear and shield; in field, S – C

As, AD 254, Rome, RIC 286

 

 

Edited March 4 by mc9

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

I ran out of coins of Gallienus and family. Time to kick back for a bit and wait for those two guys who absconded with the Imperial Treasury, Macrianus and Quietus. According to the schedule that will be tomorrow.

Edited March 4 by Ancient Coin Hunter

[ominus1]

18 hours ago, Julius Germanicus said:

Oooops, I‘m in Germany and got caught by the time shift 🫣

 

[Roman Collector]

19 hours ago, Julius Germanicus said:

Oooops, I‘m in Germany and got caught by the time shift 🫣

 

[Qcumbor]

My best portraits of both gallienus and Salonina are on sestertii

 

Q

[wittwolff]

I sadly dont have a really nice Sole reign coin of Gallienus but I got one from that time of Salonina:

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

 

Orichalcum sestertius, RIC V 216, C -, aVF/F, 12.464g, 25.2mm, 180^o, Rome mint, [IMP C P LIC GALLI]ENVS AVG, laureate and draped bust right; reverse [IOV]I CONSERVATORI S C, Jupiter standing left, thunderbolt in right, scepter in left; exceptional portrait, typical tight chunky flan.  (ex Forum and description is from the orig. listing from 2009).

I don't have too many post-260 Gallienus coins, and most are Ants from bulk lots.  I don't know, I have maybe a half dozen identifiable ones at most?

This one is the nicest.  A reduced Sestertius with a nice patina.  I heavily prefer the early Gallienus, however, and I don't really collect the silver-washed Ants.

[DonnaML]

Other than the two lion coins from Antioch that I posted above, my only sole-reign Gallienus coins are my 11 Zoo Series coins. I know I posted my newest one recently in another thread, but here they are again, all together. Needless to say, I bought exactly none of them for the portraits! However, the best portraits may be on the goat, the tigress, and the bull.

Centaur walking right with bow and arrow:

Centaur walking left holding globe and rudder:

Gryphon walking left:

Antelope left:

Doe right, head turned back to left

Gazelle right:

Goat right:

Tigress left:

Hippocamp right:

Pegasus right, rearing up on hind legs:

Bull standing right:

Edited March 4 by DonnaML

[LONGINUS]

Great thread !  ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 

 

[shanxi]

MACRIANVS

Macrianus (260-261)
Antoninianus, Samosata
Obv.: IMP C FVL MACRIANVS P F AVG, Radiate and cuirassed bust right
Rev.: INDVLGENTIAE AVG Indulgentia seated left, holding sceptre, star to left.
Billon, 4.75g, 21x23.5mm
Ref.: Kampmann 94.5, RIC 8

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

Macrianus, C.E. 260-261

Type: AE antoninianus, 22 mm 3.1 grams, Antioch mint.

Obverse: IMP C FVL MACRIANVS P F AVG, radiate cuirassed bust right

Reverse: APOLINI CONSERVA, Apollo standing left holding branch and resting hand on lyre set on a low column.

Reference: RIC 6; RSC 2; Sear 10799.