LAELIANUS AND MARIUS 269AD
LAELIANUS
Laelianus rebelled against the Gallic usurper Postumus probably in early 269 and (supposedly) established a mint at Mainz. It is during his reign that the cuirassed bust, a feature used to differentiate the products of the later Gallic mints, is introduced. One may therefore be tempted to place the mint location at Cologne. The antoniniani of Laelian, although only manufactured for a period of about one to two months and at one mint, appear to have been struck in three phases:
| PHASE 1 | IP C VLP COR LAELIANVS | VICTORIA AVG |
| PHASE 2 | IMP C LAELIANVS PF AVG (draped & cuirassed bust) | VICTORIA AVG |
| PHASE 3 | IMP C LAELIANVS PF AVG (cuirassed bust) | VICTORIA AVG |
On the above coins Victory on the reverse is advancing right. To these issues two more antoniniani can be added; FIDES MILITVM and VICTORIA AVG (Victory standing left) with bust types of Phase 2 and 3 respectively.
Giljam's book Antoniniani und Aurei des Ulpius Cornelius Laelianus, Gegenkaiser des Postumus (1982) is important for coins of this reign and presents a dies study of the recorded specimens.
MARIUS
Marius revolted against Postumus following the defeat of Laelianus and successfully overthrew him. His reign, although brief and lasting no more than a couple of months, has coins from both Gallic mints and a number of issues. A number of reverse die links from Marius' "Cologne" mint and the coins of Laelianus are recorded.
| MINT/ISSUE | OBVERSE | REVERSE |
| TRIER | ||
| ISSUE 1 | IMP C M AVR MARIVS PF AVG | CONCORD MILIT |
| CONCORDIA MILITVM | ||
| SAEC FELICITAS | ||
| VICTORIA AVG | ||
| ISSUE 2 | IMP C MARIVS PF AVG | CONCORD MILIT |
| CONCORDIA MILIT | ||
| CONCORDIA MILITVM | ||
| SAEC FELICITAS | ||
| VICTORIA AVG | ||
| COLOGNE | ||
| ISSUE 1 | IMP C M AVR MARIVS AVG | VICTORIA AVG |
| ISSUE 2 | IMP C M AVR MARIVS AVG | VICTORIA AVG |
| ISSUE 3 | IMP C M AVR MARIVS AVG | VIRTVS AVG |
©RJB 2003
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