Numismatic and History Discussion Forums > Roman Coins Discussion Forum
Help with ID-ing mints of the Gallic Empire
Ron C2:
Fair enough.
Georgraphically, Trier is marginally closer to Iberia than Cologne, but there is little achaeological evidence for Postumus minting at Trier. (that I know of)
Lugdunum (Lyons) is considerably closer to Iberia's silver mines than either Trier or Cologne, and is more closely associated with Postumus' era. Interestingly, there was also a Roman community called Lugdunum Convenarum on the modern French-Spanish border that is full of Roman ruins and would make FAR more sense for the site of the early Gallic Empire's mint than Lyons does, but that's likely just interesting coincidence.
I don't buy that Mediolanum (Milan) minted for Postumus at his decree. I think the consensus is that the few Postumus coins minted there were briefly minted by Aureolus when he revolted against Gallienus in 268.
Lastly, Moguntiacum (Mainz) is about the same distance from Cologne as Trier is, and is nowhere near as close to Iberia as Lugdunum was.
Honestly, Lugdunum makes the most sense to me as a prime candidate for the early Gallic mint output. It benefits from being one of the largest and most important cities in Gaul at the time, and from proximity to Iberia, where all of the Gallic Empire's silver was being sourced, much of it from in and around modern day Seville (i.e. Andalusia region) and along the eastern coast of Iberia (modern Levante).
There is archaeological evidence of mints operating around the time of Augustus in Lugdunum (Lyons). There is also ample evidence Clodius Albinus struck denarii there, and we know Diocletian placed a mint there at the time of his monetary reform. What I'm less certain of is whether there is archaeological evidence of a gallic mint at Lugdunum beyond Mattingly's somewhat thin attribution in the 1933 printing of RIC.
Laurentius:
Oh yes, the geographic location most likely played a decisive role.
One could add that Cologne and Mainz are located directly on the Rhine, which, as is well known,
naturally secured the dangerous border to the outside. Perfectly located, to station a legion here,
to secure the national border.
The other way around, it would also be tactically appropriate, to relocate crucial offices, such as
administration and coinage to the safe inland.
best regards
Ralph
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