Postumus Silver Antoninianus RIC V Postumus 73

Monetary and Political Context

The production of RIC V Postumus 73 unfolded against the backdrop of acute military crisis and regional secession in the western Roman provinces. Following the capture of Emperor Valerian I by Shapur I in 260 AD, the imperial center under Gallienus suffered immediate fragmentation. In Gaul, Marcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus seized power following a confrontation with Gallienus's young son Saloninus at Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium. Establishing what modern historians term the Gallic Empire (Imperium Galliarum), Postumus immediately assumed the complete apparatus of imperial governance, including senate-style institutions, praetorian guards, and an autonomous monetary system. The principal vehicle of Third Century Roman state finance was the radiate antoninianus, initially introduced under Caracalla as a double-denarius. By the 260s AD, the central Roman mint in Rome had severely diluted the metallic purity of the antoninianus down to very low silver fractions, creating widespread inflationary pressures and diminished civic trust. Postumus utilized his coinage to project administrative legitimacy and economic vitality across Gaul, Britain, and parts of Spain. In striking coins such as RIC V Postumus 73, the Gallic administration deliberately maintained a higher silver fineness, often hovering around fifteen to twenty percent silver in early issues, paired with a solid weight standard near three grams. This deliberate fiscal policy distinguished Gallic coinage from the inferior central imperial issues, securing the loyalty of regional legions and municipal authorities who depended on dependable currency.

Production Standards and Mint Attribution

In the original organization of Roman Imperial Coinage Volume V, Part 2, Percy H. Webb assigned RIC V Postumus 73 to the mint of Lugdunum (Lyon), reflecting early nineteenth- and twentieth-century traditions that viewed Lyon as the paramount minting center in Gaul. However, modern numismatic scholarship has profoundly revised this geographical framework. Die studies and hoard analyses pioneered by Georg Elmer and refined by Pierre Bastien, Roger Bland, and Jerome Mairat established that the initial Gallic imperial mint operated further north in the military frontier zone, principally at Augusta Treverorum (Trier) or Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (Cologne), conventionally labeled 'Mint I'. The mint workers responsible for RIC V Postumus 73 exercised notable craft skill relative to contemporary central empire workshops. Flan preparation involved cast blanks of base silver, commonly referred to as billon or argentiferous bronze, that received an intentional surface-enrichment process through pickling in organic acids to deplete surface copper before striking. Weights for this series typically center between 2.8 and 3.5 grams with typical diameters spanning 20 to 23 millimeters, though individual specimens vary according to flan cutting precision. Alignment of the dies is predominantly adjusted to regular axes, frequently near twelve o'clock or six o'clock, reflecting disciplined workshop control within the primary Gallic mint.

Obverse Iconography

The obverse of RIC V Postumus 73 features the distinctive portraiture of Postumus facing right, adorned with the radiate crown denoting the antoninianus denomination. Postumus is represented with a mature, heavily bearded countenance, a prominent nose, and structured facial modeling that deliberately evoked classical traditions of martial resolve and senatorial gravitas, drawing a sharp stylistic contrast with the stylized portraiture of Gallienus. Catalogue standards for RIC V Postumus 73 admit two primary drapery variants on the imperial bust. The first variant depicts the bust radiate and draped, displaying fabric folds wrapped about the neck and shoulder. The second recognized variant presents the bust radiate, draped, and cuirassed, where metallic armor scales or plates are visible beneath the pinned paludamentum. Die engravers rendered the curls of the emperor's beard and hair with crisp plastic relief, expressing an individualistic, veristic iconography designed to project confidence, maturity, and military command to the legions garrisoning the Rhine frontier.

Reverse Iconography and Symbolism

The reverse of the type features a galley navigating leftward across stylized waves, propelled by oarsmen. The vessel is rendered as a warship or transport craft, terminating in an upturned stern with an ornament or steersman manipulating the steering oars (gubernacula), and a pointed prow. Engraving details vary across individual dies: some dies depict four rowers while others articulate five, occasionally accompanied by a steersman at the stern or raised sails indicating maritime voyage. Galley imagery in Roman imperial numismatics served multiple ideological functions, frequently symbolizing auspicious imperial arrivals (adventus), successful military expeditions, or unhindered grain transport. Coupled here with the concept of Laetitia (joy or prosperity), the galley conveys smooth passage, economic abundance, and the restoration of tranquil trade routes across rivers and seas. In the context of Postumus's realm, the design emphasized Gallic command over the Rhine waterway, the English Channel, and Atlantic transit routes, reassuring the provincial population that their maritime borders and fluvial commerce remained secure under sovereign regional defense.

Epigraphy and Legends

The legends on RIC V Postumus 73 follow standard imperial epigraphic formulae executed in clean, well-proportioned Latin lettering. The obverse inscription reads IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG, representing an abbreviation of 'Imperator Caesar Postumus Pius Felix Augustus'. This legend asserts standard constitutional and divine qualifications: Imperator as supreme military commander, Caesar as supreme sovereign, Pius Felix denoting piety and fortune, and Augustus affirming august status. The reverse inscription reads LAETITIA AVG, abbreviating 'Laetitia Augusti' (The Joy of the Augustus). Laetitia personified civic contentment, happiness, and prosperity fostered by good imperial governance. Unlike legends referencing specific military victories or consular dates, the LAETITIA AVG slogan presented a timeless programmatic message suitable for continuous distribution. Letter forms are neatly cut, generally lacking punctuation stops, and neatly frame the circular flan margins to encompass the sprawling galley below.

Typology and Chronological Placement

Within Percy H. Webb's classification in Roman Imperial Coinage Volume V, RIC V Postumus 73 is catalogued broadly within the sole reign of Postumus spanning 260 to 269 AD, without finer subdivisions. However, chronological refinement undertaken by twentieth-century scholars has placed the issue far more precisely within the early phases of Postumus's reign. Georg Elmer, in his landmark 1941 corpus of Gallic imperial coinage, classified this galley type under Elmer 134, dating it to approximately 261 AD during the initial consolidation of Postumus's realm. Jerome Mairat's comprehensive 2014 study of the coinage of the Gallic Empire places the LAETITIA AVG galley series within the early issues of Mint I, demonstrating through die link networks and hoard profiles that the type belongs to Postumus's first or second substantive coinage phases (c. 260 to 262 AD). Later issues of the reign saw a progressive debasement of alloy and changes in titular styling, confirming that the relatively pure, well-struck antoniniani of RIC V Postumus 73 represent the inaugural era of Gallic monetary independence.

Circulation, Hoards, and Deposition

Antoniniani of the RIC V Postumus 73 type circulated heavily throughout the western provinces of the Roman Empire, leaving an extensive archaeological record in modern France, Germany, Belgium, Britain, and Spain. They occur routinely in major western coin hoards deposited during the late 260s and 270s AD, such as the Cunetio and Normanby hoards in Roman Britain, as well as numerous French and German Rhine-frontier deposits. Due to the superior silver content of early Postumus billon compared to contemporary issues of Gallienus, coins like RIC V Postumus 73 were actively hoarded and preferred in regional commerce. Their circulation life extended beyond Postumus's death in 269 AD, remaining in circulation alongside the debased emissions of Victorinus and Tetricus I until the reconquest of the Gallic Empire by Aurelian in 274 AD. Even after Aurelian restored central rule, older Gallic antoniniani continued to circulate in the western provinces, often exhibiting considerable wear or appearing in residual hoards buried toward the close of the third century AD.

References

1. Le monnayage de bronze de Postume. Wetteren, pp. 20-35
2. The Cunetio Treasure: Roman Coinage of the Third Century AD. pp. 140-155
3. Die Munzpragung der gallischen Kaiser in Koln, Trier und Mailand. p. 32, no. 134
4. The Coinage of the Gallic Empire. Oxford DPhil Thesis, pp. 112-140
5. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC V Postumus 73. ric.5.post.73
6. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume V, Part II. p. 341, no. 73