Postumus, Romano-Gallic Emperor AR Antoninianus. Struck AD 262-263. Treveri mint.

SEVERVS PIVS AVG, laureate head to right / P M TR P XIII COS III P P, Jupiter, nude but for cloak, standing facing, head to left, holding thunderbolt in his right hand and sceptre in his left; at his feet to left, eagle. For prototype: RIC 196; BMC 471; Cohen 469. 2.59gr, 19mm, 7h.

Near Very Fine.

Acquired on the European coin market. Property of a Kent, UK, gentleman.

'Limes Denarii' (misnomer) are more or less faithful bronze copies of silver Denarii, minted on the fringes of the empire out of necessity. Perhaps they may be officially sanctioned issues for use in regions where political unrest made it hazardous to ship large amounts of silver. These low value issues could have served troops on the front and been redeemable for good coinage when they returned to the stable regions. Were they a form of military scrip meant to keep large quantities of precious metal from falling into enemy hands in the event of a defeat?

C VALES(sic) HOSTIL MES QVINTVS N C, bare-headed, draped and cuirassed bust to right / PRINCIPI IVVENTVTIS, Prince, in military attire, standing to left, holding baton in right hand and spear in left. RIC IV 181a (Trajan Decius-misdescribed) var. (obv. legend); Calicó 3318 (misdescribed) var. (obv. legend); Biaggi 1406 (same dies). 4.01gr, 19mm, 6h.

Extremely Fine. Extremely rare with this obverse legend.

Acquired on the UK coin market. From the private coin collection of a West London, UK, gentleman.

IMP PROB-VS P F AVG, laureate and cuirassed bust to left, Medusa head and aegis on cuirass, holding spear over far shoulder / VBIQVE PAX, Victory, holding olive branch in right hand and reins in left, driving fast biga to right. RIC V.2 139; Estiot, L’atelier de Rome au début du règne de Probus pl. 12, 67.3 (D15/R28); Biaggi -; Calicó 4209; Hunterian -; Jameson -; Mazzini -. 6.69gr, 21mm, 6h.

Good Extremely Fine. Well-centred and wonderfully lustrous. Very rare; only very few specimens are known.

Ex Leu Numismatik AG, Auction 13, 27 May 2023, lot 348. Acquired on the UK coin market. From the private coin collection of a West London, UK, gentleman.

From Leu Numismatik note: VBIQVE PAX, 'peace everywhere'! - this is what the reverse of this beautiful aureus boldly proclaims. Yet while Roman authorities, like most governments, had a tendency of exaggerating successes and sugar-coating defeats, the message delivered to the public with this very rare emission was not entirely off the mark. Up to this date, Probus and his army had constantly been in the field, fighting off barbarian incursions into the empire, local unrests, and internal revolts alike. However, with the rebellions in Britain, Gaul, Germany, and Syria crushed and the frontiers secured for now, the emperor had every right to be proud of his achievements, and he consequently celebrated a well-deserved triumph in Rome in late 281. It is on this occasion that our coin was issued, and probably handed out to the troops or important officials, forming a beautiful testimony to the highly sophisticated Roman political iconography of the period. Unfortunately for the emperor, however, it was reportedly the very peace he had achieved that would, in a strange twist of fate, lead to his downfall the next year, when he was assassinated by a gang of bored and frustrated legionaries.