Featured Coin
Some guys have all the luck! On the other hand, sometimes that luck is nothing but bad. In the short reign (251-253 AD) of Trebonianus Gallus it is hard to find anything that could be called good. Rome was beginning the troubled times when emperors were created by the armies who were defending against raids from barbarians on the frontiers. Gallus was made emperor upon the death in battle of Trajan Decius. Some historians suggest that Gallus may have had a hand in Decius' defeat by the Goths but this was probably more a matter of ineptitude than of treachery. Peace with the Goths was bought not won and the entire reign was spent fending off attacks on the borders.
Gallus retained Decius' younger son Hostilian as his co-emperor and allowed Decius' widow to retain the prerogatives of Augusta rather than elevating his own wife. Whether this was out of fear for his position or simply a desire to do the right thing is unknown. A rare coin type uses the legend GALLVS PIVS AVG so it seems likely that Gallus wanted to portray himself as the latest in the line of 'good' men to hold the office.
Hostilian soon died from the pestilence that was sweeping through the Empire at the time and was replaced by Gallus' son Volusian. The impact on the Empire of this plague should not be underestimated. So many people died that some regions were depopulated. It became necessary to rely heavily on barbarians for recruits for the armies to fight other barbarian tribes. Morale was very low. Gallus continued Decius' persecution of the Christians as scapegoats for all that was wrong with the Empire. This insured that later historians recorded nothing positive about what, fairly, was one of Rome's weakest rulers. Gallus died at the hands of his own army when they decided their lot would be improved by supporting Aemilian, a rival claimant of the purple .
The reverse type of this coin shows Liberalitas, generosity, and was issued in conjunction with a donative. Most likely it was given out in honor of the elevation of Hostilian to Augustus at the beginning of the reign or the elevation of Volusian only slightly later. The portrait of Gallus is less individualized than some (a bit like Phillip?) suggesting that this die may date early in the reign before the appearance of Gallus was well known at the mint. Portraits of Gallus, both coin and other, often have an unattractive, almost stupid, expression. The emperor either was not vain or exercised no control over how he was portrayed by the mint.
By the time of Trebonianus Gallus, the once impressive Roman sestertius was starting to decline. Many coins are struck on squared flans that appear to have been chopped from a larger piece. Fully round flans that are large enough to contain all of the design are the exception rather than the rule. This coin was sold with a description of a flan flaw by the eye. Actually the eye is totally eliminated from the coin. The flaw is so severe that it goes all the way through the flan and appears on the reverse just left of Liberalitas' head. I first believed that this was an inclusion in the alloy of foreign material which eroded in from both sides. Now I note that the obverse flaw is surrounded by a slightly raised rim that is inconsistent with that theory. Note that the flaw is rather square and is larger on the reverse. An answer: This coin was pierced by a square cut nail hammered in from the reverse side. I once saw a movie where a character nailed a coin to a beam in a bar as some sort of wager. This coin seems to have been in the real life version of that movie. Time has filled the hole with encrustation. Proving this theory would require excavating the hole which would ruin the appearance of the coin and will not be done.
Some coins are found defaced as 'Damnatio Memoriae' for a hated ruler. This is not one. Had the intent been to deface Gallus the nail would have gone in through the obverse. The taper of the nail left the larger scar on the side of entry and the raised rim on the side of exit. I once thought this coin was rather little worn but was struck poorly resulting in little detail on the reverse figure where the metal was needed to fill the higher relief portrait die. Again, my opinion has been updated. The flat areas in the reverse figure and on the ear of the portrait are the result of the hammer blows that drove the nail. Sometimes a coin with faults can be so much more interesting than the Brilliant Uncirculated ones. This coin lived a hard life not inconsistent with that of the man whose portrait it bears. Some coins have all the luck.
(c) 1997 Doug Smith