Mike Markowitz' article in CoinWeek about coins of the Gallic Emperors

[Roman Collector]

An educational overview of the Gallic Empire and its coinage! Among some of the coins in the article:

 

[Sulla80]

A nice overview with great coins @Roman Collector, are the two coins in the article yours?   Although Jerome Mairat's thesis is referenced, I am surprised that there isn't a nod to the new RIC V.4 on The Gallic Empire.  Available from Spink: https://spinkbooks.com/products/roman-imperial-coinage-volume-v-4-the-gallic-empire-by-jerome-mairat

The "double sestertius" is a coin that gets my attention...it was a denomination that was first issued by 3rd century AD Emperor Trajan Decius and then Postumus as usurper in Gaul.

Notes, and more relevant coins here: https://www.sullacoins.com/post/postumus-romano-gallic-emperor

Edited January 30 by Sulla80

[Roman Collector]

27 minutes ago, Sulla80 said:

Roman Collector, are the two coins in the article yours?

Sadly, they are not, but I have many from the Gallic Empire. Here's a favorite, with a personification of the Rhine river.

[dougsmit]

I'm sorry that book did not come out while I was still actively buying coins.  The fact remains that there are a great number of very rare coins from this period and a relatively small number of coins that are very, very common.  I only have the common ones.  

Double sestertii are common in lower grades but most we see are not pretty.

 

To me, the best and worst looking are those overstruck on earlier coins.  This was a sestertius of Antoninus Pius.

[Al Kowsky]

I'm surprised the Markowitz article didn't illustrate a sestertius. Pictured below is a Postumus sestertius in my collection ☺️.

Romano-Gallic Empire. Postumus, AD 260-269 (struck AD 261). Trier Mint, 3rd emission. AE Sestertius: 25.49 gm, 31.5 gm, 6 h. Obverse: Laureate, draped & cuirassed bust of Postumus, IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG. Reverse: Victory striding left while holding a wreath & palm branch, VICTORIA AVG. RIC V 170.

Note: Oddly, sestertii are almost always heavier than double sestertii.

[panzerman]

Great topic/ I just picked up my first Gallic Empire coins recently in Lucernae Auction. The aureii are beautifull but very $$$$🤐

[Postvmvs]

The article repeats the untruth about there being a third Domitianus II coin found in Bulgaria. As noted by Mairat in RIC V.4:

"The coin published by L. Vassilev ('The coinage of the Roman usurper Domitianus II (271?) in context of the third his antoninianus from Bulgaria', Reverse Magazine 2 (2019), pp 12-21) is obviously a 'barbarous radiate', and surely not a third coin of Domitian II."

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

The laureate sestertii are often of much better artistic quality than the double sestertii.  It's my personal pet theory these were given out as donatives or presentation pieces.

I've always wondered about the really small 'dupondii.'  Were they reduced double sestertii?

[Sulla80]

Here's an ugly version of Al's sestertius.

[rasiel]

On 1/29/2024 at 6:03 PM, Postvmvs said:

The article repeats the untruth about there being a third Domitianus II coin found in Bulgaria. As noted by Mairat in RIC V.4:

"The coin published by L. Vassilev ('The coinage of the Roman usurper Domitianus II (271?) in context of the third his antoninianus from Bulgaria', Reverse Magazine 2 (2019), pp 12-21) is obviously a 'barbarous radiate', and surely not a third coin of Domitian II."

I'd be interested in hearing more on this. I remember coming across a coin on ebay around 2007-2009 that seemed to me at the time to be a good candidate. I planned to bid on it but it was pulled before the auction close leading me to think it was sold privately. It might have been a fake but it was definitely not your run of the mill scammy ebayer. From what I remember it was posted as an ordinary budget AE of the sort that only someone who was paying close attention and who knew the period coinage well would find anything out of the ordinary with it. Maybe a longshot that that was it?

[Postvmvs]

This link, mostly in Bulgarian, includes a poor black and white photo of the supposed third Domitianus II coin:

https://lubomir-vassilev.blogspot.com/2021/01/iivpenchev-extremely-rare-roman-copper.html

It seems obvious to me that this is just a barbarous radiate.

Attached are also the two known genuine Domitianus II for comparison.

[John Conduitt]

28 minutes ago, Postvmvs said:

This link, mostly in Bulgarian, includes a poor black and white photo of the supposed third Domitianus II coin:

https://lubomir-vassilev.blogspot.com/2021/01/iivpenchev-extremely-rare-roman-copper.html

It seems obvious to me that this is just a barbarous radiate.

Attached are also the two known genuine Domitianus II for comparison.

I don't know that it is a barbarous radiate. The style is not that of a typical barbarous radiate, which would have an oversized, spiky crown and a scrawled stick person on the reverse. 18mm isn't typical either. The legend is rather neat and precise too, although it starts with the name, which is suspicious. But neither does it look anything like the 'real' Domitian II. Very odd that he had so few coins and yet it is so different in style. And what was it doing in Bulgaria?