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An early billon antoninianus of the emperor Postumus with a personification of the Rhine Coin Type: Billon antoninianus of Postumus, 259-268 CE
Mint and Date: Cologne, 260 CE
Size and Weight: 21mm x 23mm, 1.57g
Obverse: IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG
Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
Reverse: SALVS PROVINCIARVM
The Rhine river-god recumbent left (not horned), left arm resting on urn, right hand on prow of vessel, left hand holding anchor.
Provenance: rombron (eBay), October 2006
Ref: RCV (2005) 10991, RIC V 87; Cunetio 2371
BW Ref: 006 028 089
Click on the picture for a larger scale view of the coin

Note 1: The boat shown on this coin is probably a navis lusoria. Here's a translation by Lars Rutten from a comment by a German auction house:

"The naves lusoriae were introduced around mid 3. Century AD. Those slim and flat boats were used by the Roman river flotillas until the late Roman period and were of substantial military significance. Iulianus II. Apostata, for example, managed to get his 3000 men from Ulm to Sirmium within just eleven days (during the Civil War against Constantius II.) — which means that, assuming one boat carried thirty oarsmen and twenty additional men, the emperor used 60 naves lusoriae. One of the biggest advantages of this type of boat was that it could be manned with regular land troops. On the basis of naves lusoriae that were found in Mainz, the University of Regensburg recreated a lusoria, see Ferkel/Konen/Schäfer, Navis Lusoria. Ein Römerschiff in Regensburg, St. Katharinen 2004. Postumus propagated this type of boat in an extensive way on his coins."

Here are two other coin types with this type of boat: Antoninianus of Postumus showing Neptune; Antoninianus of Postumus showing Serapis.

Note 2: This type with hornless head is rarer than the horned variety; in the Cunetio treasure, there were 268 specimens with horned head, but only 26 without.


The content of this page was last updated on 9 June 2007