A scarce early denarius of Galba proclaiming himself emperor, Tarraco mint?

[Romismatist]

I recently purchased what I believe is an early Spanish issue of Galba. Instead of Galba's portrait on the obverse there is a right-facing helmeted bust of Virtus, and on the reverse, Galba on horseback rallying his troops, with "GALBA IMP" above.

The denarius is apparently from an "old English collection", which doesn't guarantee authenticity, but a closer analysis of the metal shows that it is crystallized and appears ancient. I used sodium thiosulfate to remove some of the horn silver (not sure that can be faked either). The coin seems to have been through quite a lot, with a chunk missing behind Virtus' headress and around some of the letters on the reverse but I don't think that it is one of those "distressed" Bulgarian forgeries. Weight is 3.6 g and diameter is 18-19 mm.

The denarius is from the early period of the "Year of the Four Emperors" (April to late AD 68) when Gallic and Hispanic troops declared Galba as emperor following Nero's suicide. The coin is similar to RIC 93 but with the reverse legend "GALBA IMP" instead of "SER GALBA IMP". (not my coin)

 

There is another similar coin I found in Wildwinds (see below, "Sutherland Supp 4." - not my coin) but with the reverse legend "GALBA IMPER". My coin clearly has "GALBA IMP" as the reverse legend. 

 

Can anyone help me to attribute this coin further and perhaps also provide thoughts on its authenticity? It's not in the greatest condition, but if genuine, it is from an interesting historical period and appears to be rather rare, as I can't seem to find any exact matches.

Thanks in advance for any insights you are able to provide!

[Ryro]

Is it an ancient fourrée? On my phone the "chunk missing" appears to show bronze underneath. Which a lot of these types are. 

Here's my civil war rebel coin, a fourrée. Closest I've got:

CIVIL WAR, 68-69 CE,

Den, fouree, Mint in Southern Gaul. VESTA PR QVIRITVM, veiled and draped bust of Vesta; torch to right, r/IO MAX CAPITOLINVS, Jupiter std in Distyle temple, with wreath in pediment and containing Jupiter seated left, holding thunderbolt and sceptre; RIC 128; Frank Robinson’s notes “F or so BUT much patchy core exposure, somewhat off-ctr, lgnds crude & partly off; bust clear; but pretty ugly. Or, as a certain deity would say, "A beautiful coin, folks, believe me, a beautiful coin, I can tell you that." But Very rare.

Ex: Frank Robinson

[Romismatist]

@Ryro, no, it appears to be solid silver. The bit behind the headdress is just a lighter color of silver.

[Ocatarinetabellatchitchix]

Very interesting coin. Usually, we see the horseman issue paired with the obverse HISPANIA. Is it a new combination ? I think you would need the opinion of a real expert in Galba’s coinage. I will PM you the email of a specialist known for his knowledge in this area. I’m sure he would be interested to see your piece.

[Romismatist]

27 minutes ago, Ocatarinetabellatchitchix said:

Very interesting coin. Usually, we see the horseman issue paired with the obverse HISPANIA. Is it a new combination ? I think you would need the opinion of a real expert in Galba’s coinage. I will PM you the email of a specialist known for his knowledge in this area. I’m sure he would be interested to see your piece.

Thanks, @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix! I have reached out to your contact to see if he can provide any additional insights. I agree that my coin appears to be a mule of the "Hispania bust" reverse and the "Virtus bust" obverse.

[David Atherton]

Your Spanish attribution for the piece is likely correct based on the fact that a later Spanish issue for Vespasian included the same type!

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=145741

[Romismatist]

15 hours ago, David Atherton said:

Your Spanish attribution for the piece is likely correct based on the fact that a later Spanish issue for Vespasian included the same type!

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=145741

Wonderful - many thanks, @David Atherton!

[MrMonkeySwag96]

I love how the design is reminiscent of Roman Republic denarii

[Romismatist]

21 hours ago, MrMonkeySwag96 said:

I love how the design is reminiscent of Roman Republic denarii

I agree! It was originally misattributed as a Republican denarius...

[Coinmaster]

Very nice, interesting and important denarius, congrats!

These coin issues from the early period of the civil war, when Nero had not yet committed suicide (after being sentenced to dead by the Senate via whipping), are still poorly researched. Most research focused on the different types and possible relations. No effort has been made (untill now by my own research) by looking at archaeological evidence and find records.

Therefore, it's still difficult to relate coin issues to certain mints. In my opinion, it's very possible that your coin was minted on the authority of Gaius Julius Vindex, not by Galba. Vindex was a supporter of Galba and this coin could be seen as a propaganda coin. The audience of this coin would be the new rebellion army of Vindex (supposed to be 100.000 men) and other legions in the Rhine area and Britain.

[Romismatist]

On 10/25/2024 at 3:30 AM, Coinmaster said:

Very nice, interesting and important denarius, congrats!

These coin issues from the early period of the civil war, when Nero had not yet committed suicide (after being sentenced to dead by the Senate via whipping), are still poorly researched. Most research focused on the different types and possible relations. No effort has been made (untill now by my own research) by looking at archaeological evidence and find records.

Therefore, it's still difficult to relate coin issues to certain mints. In my opinion, it's very possible that your coin was minted on the authority of Gaius Julius Vindex, not by Galba. Vindex was a supporter of Galba and this coin could be seen as a propaganda coin. The audience of this coin would be the new rebellion army of Vindex (supposed to be 100.000 men) and other legions in the Rhine area and Britain.

Thanks @Coinmaster. That would make some sense, as the coin reportedly came from a British collection (I acquired it from a UK dealer). I have not been able to find another like it, but the reverse and obverses exist on a handful of coins, as discussed in this thread.

I hope that at some point, more detailed research will be done of this coinage to shed some more light on how they relate to the events of the period.

[Coinmaster]

3 hours ago, Romismatist said:

Thanks @Coinmaster. That would make some sense, as the coin reportedly came from a British collection (I acquired it from a UK dealer). I have not been able to find another like it, but the reverse and obverses exist on a handful of coins, as discussed in this thread.

I hope that at some point, more detailed research will be done of this coinage to shed some more light on how they relate to the events of the period.

You're welcome and working on that!