Postumus Billon Antoninianus, RIC V Postumus 78

Monetary Context and the Secessionist Gallic Currency

The emergence of RIC V Postumus 78 occurred against the backdrop of the mid-third-century crisis, when Marcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus broke away from central Roman control in AD 260 to establish the Gallic Empire. At this juncture, the central imperial coinage of Gallienus was undergoing precipitous debasement, with silver content dropping below fifteen percent and continuing downward. In contrast, Postumus instituted a monetary policy designed to bolster confidence among the western legions and provincial populations. Early in his reign, the Gallic billon radiate retained an estimated silver fineness frequently around fifteen to twenty percent, providing a notably heavier and higher-grade alternative to the base billon pieces emanating from Rome. The issue of the Pax type reinforced the political message that the break with the central empire had delivered stability, military defence, and tranquil conditions to Gaul, Britain, and Spain.

Production, Technology, and Mint Attribution

In the original classification of Roman Imperial Coinage Volume V Part 2, Percy H. Webb assigned RIC V Postumus 78 to the mint of Lugdunum (modern Lyon), following nineteenth-century conventions. However, twentieth- and twenty-first-century scholarship, initiated by Georg Elmer and advanced by numismatists studying major hoards, has fundamentally revised the geography of Gallic imperial mints. Elmer placed the main mint of Postumus at Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (Cologne), with later activity shifting or opening an auxiliary mint at Augusta Treverorum (Trier). While some scholars maintain that Lugdunum may have operated during the earliest months or alongside a northern facility, modern corpora frequently designate the primary issuer as Mint I (Cologne) or Trier. Production utilized hand-engraved iron dies with careful portraiture, striking billon blanks cast in open moulds or cut from hammered sheets. Die linkage across the extensive Pax series demonstrates high-volume production designed to fund frontier garrisons.

Obverse Portraiture and Style

The obverse of RIC V Postumus 78 features a right-facing bust of Postumus wearing the radiate crown, which technically denotes the double-denarius or antoninianus denomination. The emperor is depicted with drapery visible across the shoulders. The stylistic execution of the Gallic mint engravers is distinguished by high relief, a distinctively prominent and neatly curled beard, a straight nose, and a sober, mature countenance. This naturalistic yet imposing imperial visage deliberately contrasted with the increasingly schematic portraits produced at the central mints under Gallienus. In accordance with the catalogue standard for type 78, the bust is draped; related variant listings in RIC distinguish bust drapery from bare necklines or cuirassed combinations.

Reverse Iconography: Pax Walking

The reverse design of the type is dedicated to Pax, the personification of peace. Pax is portrayed draped, stepping or walking toward the left. In her raised right hand she extends an olive branch, the universal ancient symbol of pacification and civic concord. In her left hand, she holds a long sceptre held diagonally across her body. This dynamic posture, often described as Pax gradiens, contrasts with the static standing posture of Pax seen on parallel issues. The iconography conveyed an active military restoration of peace, reminding users that Postumus had secured the Rhine border against Germanic incursions and safeguarded western provincial commerce.

Inscriptional Formulas and Epigraphy

The obverse legend reads IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG, an abbreviated Latin inscription expanding to Imperator Caesar Postumus Pius Felix Augustus. This titulature invokes the established imperial dignities, claiming supreme military command, pious devotion, and good fortune within the traditional Roman framework. The reverse bears the straightforward legend PAX AVG, expanding to Pax Augusti (the Peace of the Augustus). Epigraphically, the letters are deeply cut, regular, and balanced around the rim without exergual marks or field symbols on this specific base type. The neatness of the lettering reflects the superior workshop standards maintained by the early mint personnel of the Gallic regime.

Typology, Chronological Dating, and Variants

Under the broad chronological umbrella of RIC V, Postumus 78 is dated generically to the span of the reign, AD 260 to 269. More precise chronological frameworks have been established by subsequent scholars through die studies and hoard distributions. Georg Elmer grouped the Pax walking issues within his early-to-middle series, predominantly dating them to approximately AD 261 to 263. In the Cunetio hoard publication, Edward Besly and Roger Bland placed the dominant production of the Pax series across successive issues of Postumus's primary mint. Typological distinction is critical: RIC V Postumus 78 is defined by the specific combination of the draped radiate bust facing right and Pax walking left with branch and sceptre, lacking field letters such as P, V, or star emblems, which characterize later or alternate catalogue entries.

Circulation Patterns and Archaeological Context

RIC V Postumus 78 circulated massively across the northwestern Roman provinces, becoming one of the most common coins buried in hoards across Gaul, Britain, and the Germanies. Notable deposits such as the Cunetio Hoard in Wiltshire, which contained over fifty thousand coins, and the Normanby Hoard illustrate that billon radiates of Postumus were heavily retained by populations due to their intrinsic superiority over the debased central Roman radiates of Gallienus and Claudius II Gothicus. The coin continued to circulate well beyond Postumus's death in AD 269, remaining in circulation through the reigns of Victorinus and Tetricus I until Aurelian re-established central control over the Gallic territories in AD 274. Due to prolonged circulation, surviving examples range from sharp, high-grade strikes to heavily worn, clipped, and corroded pieces.

References

1. The Cunetio Treasure: Roman Coinage of the Third Century AD. London: British Museum Press, 1983
2. Die Münzprägung der gallischen Kaiser in Köln, Trier und Mailand. Bonner Jahrbücher 146 (1941)
3. The Coinage of the Gallic Empire. DPhil thesis, University of Oxford, 2014
4. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC V Postumus 78. RIC V Postumus 78
5. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. V, Part II. p. 343, no. 78