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Home ▸ Catalog ▸ |Roman Coins| ▸ |Crisis & Decline||View Options:   | | | |
Felicitas was the goddess or personification of happiness, good fortune, and success. She played an important role in Rome's state religion during the empire and was frequently portrayed on coins. On this coin she holds the caduceus, a symbol of peace, and the cornucopia, a symbol of prosperity.SH110382. Orichalcum sestertius, Göbl MIR 83s, RIC V-1 J249, Cohen V 1298, Hunter IV J33 var. (obv. leg. no P F); SRCV III 10495 var. (same), Choice VF, superb portrait, well centered on a squared unusually full flan, double strike, weight 22.146 g, maximum diameter 32.7 mm, die axis 0o, Rome mint, 255 - 256 A.D.; obverse IMP C P LIC GALLIENVS P F AVG, laureate and cuirassed bust right, slight drapery on left shoulder and back; reverse VIRTVS AVGG (the virtue of the two emperors), Virtus standing front, head left, wearing crested helmet and military garb, right hand resting on grounded oval shield, inverted spear in left hand, S - C (senatus consulto) flanking across the field below center; ex Leu Numismatik auction 17 (14 Aug 2021), lot 2813; $900.00 (€909.00)
Gallienus, August 253 - September 268 A.D., Irenopolis-Neronias, Cilicia
Wandering the world in a panther-drawn chariot, Dionysos rode ahead of the maenads and satyrs, who sang loudly and danced, flushed with wine. They were profusely garlanded with ivy and held the thyrsus, a staff topped with a pine cone, a symbol of the immortality of his believers. Everywhere he went he taught men how to cultivate vines and the mysteries of his cult. Whoever stood in his way and refused to revere him was punished with madness.RP96990. Bronze 7 assaria, Karbach Eirenopolis - (cf. 146-7 same obv. die, diff. rev. type); Leu web auction 12 (2020), 870 (same dies); SNG Levante -; SNG Paris -; SNG PFPS -, aVF/F, green patina with earthen deposits, weight 12.523 g, maximum diameter 27.7 mm, die axis 225o, Irenopolis (Düzici, Turkey) mint, 258 - 259 A.D.; obverse ΠOY ΛIK Γ/θ>AΛIHNOC, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind; uncertain round countermark; reverse IPHNOΠOΛE (or similar), Dionysos drinking with his entourage, standing facing, kantharos (wine cup) in his right hand, pedum (shepherd's crook) in his left hand, Pan on right supporting him, Satyr on left standing with outstretched right hand, panther seated left at feet on left, Z (mark of value) right; ex Leu Numismatik web auction 13 (15 Aug 2020), lot 921; the second known; $575.00 (€580.75)
Valerian I, October 253 - c. June 260 A.D., Tyre, Phoenicia
Romans refounded Tyre as a colony in 64 B.C., when Pompey annexed Phoenicia to the Roman Empire. Tyre flourished under the Rome and remained a Roman port city, even under the Byzantine Empire, until the 7th century when it was taken by Muslim conquest.RP96396. Bronze dichalkon, BMC Phoenicia p. 289, 465 var. (murex shell on right); Rouvier -; Baramki AUB -; SNG Hunt -; SNG Cop -, F, rough dark green patina, earthen deposits, weight 16.345 g, maximum diameter 27.5 mm, die axis 0o, Tyre (Lebanon) mint, Oct 253 - Jun 260 A.D.; obverse IMP C P LIC VALERIANVS AVG, laureate bust right; reverse COL TVRO METR, river-god (Adonis?) standing facing, head left, nude to waist, himation around hips and legs, right hand dropping incense on flaming altar at her feet on left, long grounded reed vertical in left hand, murex shell on left; from the J. Berlin Caesarea Collection, 1971 Caesarea Maritima surface find; Coin Archives records only one specimen of the type at auction in the last two decades; extremely rare; $320.00 (€323.20)
Gallienus, August 253 - September 268 A.D., Ake Ptolemais, Galilee
Akko was refounded as a Roman colony, colonia Ptolemais, probably in 53 or 54 A.D., the last year of Claudius' reign or the first year of Nero’s. Akko was one of hundreds of cities in the Roman provinces that minted civic coins. In the mid 3rd century cities stopped producing their own coins. The last city coins were struck under Gallienus, and Akko was among the very last cities to strike its own coins.JD96394. Bronze AE 27, BMC Phoenicia p. 138, 50 var. (obv. leg.); Rosenberger 86 var. (same); Kadman Akko 256 var. (same, draped); Sofaer 293 ff. (draped, etc.); SNG Cop -, aF, rough green patina, light earthen deposits, a little off center, weight 13.158 g, maximum diameter 26.5 mm, die axis 0o, Ake Ptolemais (Acre, Israel) mint, 253 - 268 A.D.; obverse IMP CAES LIC GALLIENVS AVG, laureate head right; reverse COL P-TOL, portable shrine containing a statue of Zeus Heliopolites, shrine consisting of a frame within two pillars supporting a architrave with hatched decoration, two carrying poles projecting from bottom, figure of deity within standing facing on rock or base, wearing short chiton, double axe in right hand, harpe(?) in left hand; an unpublished variant of a very rare type; from the J. Berlin Caesarea Collection, 1977 surface find at Caesarea Maritima, Israel; extremely rare; $310.00 (€313.10)
Trajan Decius, September 249 - June or July 251 A.D., Augusta, Cilicia
Augusta, Cilicia was founded in 20 A.D., and named for Livia (Julia Augusta). Just over 16 km north of Adana in a loop of the river Seyhan (Sarus), and at the west end of a narrow plain bounded to the north and south by low hills. Represented at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, the city probably did not long survive the Moslem invasion of Cilicia in the 7th century. The site, discovered by chance in 1955, was identified by ancient literary sources and from finds there, and in the neighboring village of Gübe, of Roman provincial coins naming the city. Later that same year Gübe, and with it the ruins of Augusta, disappeared below the waters of the Seyhan dam, but not before the site had been partially surveyed. Two colonnaded streets crossed each other at right angles typical of Roman towns in Cilicia. The foundations of a triumphal arch, a theater, a civic basilica, some shops, a bath building, were mapped. These structures were all of brick and mortar, and probably dated to the 3rd century.RP111040. Bronze AE 19, apparently unpublished; SNG BnF -, SNG Levante -, SNG Cop -, SNGvA -, SNG Tahberer -, SNG Pfälzer -, BMC Cilicia -, Lindgren -, VF, near centered, dark patina, choice reverse, light marks, weight 4.773 g, maximum diameter 18.8 mm, die axis 0o, Cilicia, Augusta (under Seyhan Dam Reservoir) mint, autumn 249 - Jun/Jul 251 A.D.; obverse AVT KAI KYN ∆EKION TPAIANON CEB, laureate head right, light beard; reverse AVΓOVCTANΩN ET ΘKC (of Augustus, year 229), draped bust of ivy wreathed Dionysos right; zero sales of this type listed on Coin Archives in the last two decades; extremely rare; $250.00 (€252.50)
Valerian I, October 253 - c. June 260 A.D.
Liberalitas coin types attest to occasions when the emperor has displayed his generosity towards the people by a distribution to them, in money, provisions, or both. The first mention of Liberalitas was on coins of Hadrian. It was a type frequently repeated by the succeeding emperors. Indeed these instances of imperial generosity are more carefully recorded on coins than they are by history. This coin advertises that Elagabalus has made his third distribution to the people. Liberality is personified by the image of a woman, holding in one hand a counting board, or square tablet with a handle on which are cut a certain number of holes. These boards were used to quickly count the proper number of coins or other items for distribution to each person. In the other hand she holds a cornucopia.RB110380. Orichalcum sestertius, Göbl MIR 66h, RIC V-1 J165 (S), Hunter IV J45; SRCV III 10468, Cohen V 110, VF/F, nice green patina, nice portrait, tight round flan, most of legends off flan, weight 17.182 g, maximum diameter 25.7 mm, die axis 0o, Rome mint, 2nd issue, 255 - 256 A.D.; obverse IMP C P LIC VALERIANVS P F AVG, laureate, cuirassed and slightly draped, bust right; reverse LIBERALITAS AVGG, Liberalitas standing slightly left, wearing long chiton, counting board in right hand, cornucopiae in left hand, S - C (senatus consulto) flanking across field below center; this is the first specimen of this type handled by FORVM; ex Degani Venizia (Plaza San Marco, Venice, Italy); scarce; $240.00 (€242.40)
Balbinus, 22 April - 29 July 238 A.D., Tarsos, Cilicia
When the province of Cilicia was divided, Tarsus remained the civil and religious metropolis of Cilicia Prima, and was a grand city with palaces, marketplaces, roads and bridges, baths, fountains and waterworks, a gymnasium on the banks of the Cydnus, and a stadium. Tarsus was later eclipsed by nearby Adana, but remained important as a port and shipyard. Several Roman emperors were interred here: Tacitus, Maximinus II, and Julian the Apostate, who planned to move his capital here from Antioch if he returned from his Persian expedition.RP110639. Bronze AE 36, RPC Online VII.2 2997; SNG Levante 1110; SNG BnF 1624; SNG Cop 380; BMC Cilicia p. 208, 239; Mionnet III, p. 642, 520, Fair, centered, green patina, rough, weight 29.502 g, maximum diameter 36.4 mm, die axis 180o, Tarsos (Tarsus, Mersin, Turkey) mint, 238 A.D.; obverse AVT KEC KAIΛ BAΛBEINOC CEB (Imperator Caesar Caelius Balbinus Augustus), laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, seen from front, Π − Π (pater patriae) across field; reverse TAPCOV MHTPOΠOΛEWC, Apollo Lykeios standing facing on omphalos, nude, head left, holding forepaws of a wolf in right hand, chlamys over left arm, bow and arrow in left hand, in field A/M/K on left, Γ / B on right; huge 36mm bronze!; very rare; $230.00 (€232.30)
Maximinus I Thrax, 20 March 235 - late May 238 A.D., Philadelphia, Cilicia Trachea
Philadelphia (Greek: brotherly love) in ancient Cilicia Trachea (later of Isauria) was on the river Calycadnus, above Aphrodisias. Its site is tentatively located near Imsi Ören in Asiatic Turkey. Neither Philadelphia in Lydia (Alasehir, Turkey today) nor Philadelphia, in the Decapolis, later Arabia Petraea (Amman, Jordan today) struck coins for Maximinus Thrax.RB98739. Bronze AE 34, SNG BnF 760, SNG Levante 580, SNGvA 5804, SNG Leypold 2580, Lindgren-Kovacs 786, RPC Online VI T6889, EF, dark patina, pitting, a little off center, weight 14.930 g, maximum diameter 34.1 mm, die axis 0o, Cilicia, Philadelphia (near Imsi Ören, Turkey) mint, 20 Mar 235 - late May 238 A.D.; obverse AVT K Γ IOVH MAΞIMEINOC, laureate and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind; reverse ΦILALELFFEΩN KHTIΛOC, Tyche standing left, kalathos on head, grounded rudder in right hand held by tiller, cornucopia in left hand; from the CEB Collection, ex Edward J. Waddell, big 34mm!; $215.00 (€217.15)
Gordian III, 29 July 238 - 25 February 244 A.D., Nikopolis ad Istrum, Moesia Inferior
Nicopolis ad Istrum was founded by Trajan around 101-106, at the junction of the Iatrus (Yantra) and the Rositsa rivers, in memory of his victory over the Dacians. Its ruins are located at the village of Nikyup, 20 km north of Veliko Tarnovo in northern Bulgaria. The town peaked during the reigns of Trajan, Hadrian, the Antonines and the Severan dynasty. In 447, the Nicopolis was destroyed by Attila's Huns. In the 6th century, it was rebuilt as a powerful fortress enclosing little more than military buildings and churches, following a very common trend for the cities of that century in the Danube area. It was finally destroyed by the Avar invasions at the end of the 6th century.RP110620. Bronze AE 29, HHJ Nikopolis 8.36.5.1, AMNG I/I 2048, RPC VII.2 1265.1, SNG Budapest 482, Varbanov I 4186 var. (rev. legend arrangement), Choice VF, broad flan with full borders and legends, green patina, central depressions, weight 13.556 g, maximum diameter 29.1 mm, die axis 180o, Nicopolis ad Istrum (Nikyup, Bulgaria) mint, consular legate Sabinius Modestus, 241 - 244 A.D.; obverse AVT K M ANTW ΓOP∆IANOC AVΓ (AVΓ ligate), laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind; reverse VΠ CAB MO∆ECTOY NIKOΠOΛEITΩN ΠP,O/C/I/C (ΩN & ΠP ligate, last 4 letters in column in left field), Demeter standing facing, head left, grain-ears in right hand, long torch in left hand; $135.00 (€136.35)
Philip II, July or August 247 - Late 249 A.D., Antioch, Seleukis and Pieria, Syria
| The ruins of Antioch on the Orontes lie near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey. Founded near the end of the 4th century B.C. by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch's geographic, military and economic location, particularly the spice trade, the Silk Road, the Persian Royal Road, benefited its occupants, and eventually it rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the Near East and as the main center of Hellenistic Judaism at the end of the Second Temple period. Antioch is called "the cradle of Christianity," for the pivotal early role it played in the emergence of the faith. It was one of the four cities of the Syrian tetrapolis. Its residents are known as Antiochenes. Once a great metropolis of half a million people, it declined to insignificance during the Middle Ages because of warfare, repeated earthquakes and a change in trade routes following the Mongol conquests, which then no longer passed through Antioch from the far east. |  |
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