Gallienus Antoninianus, RIC V Gallienus 513: Subtype 1

Monetary Context and Currency Debasement

The antoninianus designated under RIC V Gallienus 513: Subtype 1 was struck during one of the most volatile monetary chapters in the history of the Roman Empire. Following the capture of Gallienus's father and co-emperor Valerian I by Sasanian forces in AD 260, Gallienus presided as sole Augustus over a fractured empire facing simultaneous external invasions and regional rebellions, notably the secession of the Gallic Empire in the west and the rise of Palmyrene autonomy in the east. To meet continuous military expenditures, Gallienus enacted radical fiscal policies that dramatically accelerated the debasement of the double denarius, or antoninianus. While classified formally under the heading of silver in typological catalogues such as Roman Imperial Coinage, specimens belonging to this specific subtype were struck in low-purity billon. Metallurgical analyses of mid-260s issues from central Italian and northern Italian workshops demonstrate that intrinsic silver content collapsed from roughly twenty percent in the late 250s to below five percent, and eventually down to one or two percent by the close of the reign. To mask this precipitous loss of precious metal, the mint utilized chemical surface blanching and silver wash treatments that gave newly struck planchets a lustrous, silvered appearance. In contemporary trade, however, this thin surface layer rapidly eroded under circulation wear, exposing a dull copper alloy core. Subtype 1 belongs to the broad group of base radiates that replaced older, higher-grade imperial silver, driving earlier issues into hoards and contributing to widespread inflationary pressures across the central Mediterranean provinces.

Production and the Mediolanum Mint

The mint of Mediolanum, modern Milan, served as an essential operational center for Gallienus's administration during his sole reign. Established as an active imperial mint around AD 259 to AD 260, Mediolanum was strategically situated to supply pay to the emperor's newly organized mobile cavalry reserve and field armies stationed along the Po Valley and the Raetian frontier. Production of RIC V Gallienus 513: Subtype 1 took place directly within this northern Italian facility. The Mediolanum mint operated with multiple officinae or workshops, each responsible for producing regular consignments of radiates with high volumetric output. Production methods relied on manual die-sinking, rapid flan manufacture, and high-speed striking, which frequently resulted in irregular planchet borders, minor off-center strikes, and visible die wear. Unlike earlier Severan issues that featured carefully rounded and balanced flans, antoniniani of this type exhibit thinner, broader, yet often jagged planchets that averaged between 2.5 and 3.5 grams in weight and roughly 18 to 22 millimeters in diameter. Although precise individual weights fluctuate substantially across surviving specimens due to irregular flan cutting and alloy variation, production standards remained controlled enough to maintain rapid batch output for the payment of the imperial troops stationed in northern Italy.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Portraiture

The obverse of RIC V Gallienus 513: Subtype 1 features the right-facing, radiate head of Gallienus. In keeping with the diagnostic iconography of the antoninianus denomination established under Caracalla, the radiate crown signifies the double-value tariff of the coin relative to the traditional denarius, invoking the radiant power of the solar deity Sol. In Subtype 1, the portraiture is limited to the bare radiate head without accompanying chest drapery or cuirass, distinguishing it from related companion issues that feature draped or armored busts. The stylistic execution of the Mediolanum mint during this period exhibits a distinctive regional flair characterized by simplified, sharp linear details, a high rounded cranial structure, and neatly arranged rows of facial curls and beard locks. Gallienus's visage on this issue reflects the refined, intellectual, and Hellenizing portrait style adopted during his sole reign, moving away from the rugged military realism typical of the mid-third-century soldier-emperors while still preserving an authoritative imperial presence suited to the commander-in-chief.

Reverse Design: The Securitas Motif

The reverse of Subtype 1 is defined by the allegorical figure of Securitas standing draped and facing toward the left. Her posture is deliberately relaxed and composed, with her legs crossed at the ankles in a well-established artistic convention denoting tranquility, confidence, and internal ease. She leans her left elbow upon a low vertical column, a traditional symbol of architectural steadfastness, endurance, and unyielding defense. Depending on the individual die engraved for this subtype, Securitas is depicted either resting quietly against the column or holding a slender vertical sceptre in her right hand, signaling lawful authority and divine sanction. The juxtaposition of a tranquil, leaning deity against the backdrop of pervasive military and economic turbulence was an intentional instrument of imperial communication. By depicting Securitas in an attitude of unconcerned repose, the coin disseminated a powerful reassurance that the emperor's strategic guidance maintained the underlying safety of the state despite external border pressure and regional rebellions.

Epigraphy and Legend Analysis

The epigraphic composition of RIC V Gallienus 513: Subtype 1 is concise, functional, and devoid of complex honorific abbreviations. On the obverse, the inscription reads simply GALLIENVS AVG, providing the emperor's nomen along with the standard abbreviation for Augustus. This truncated formula is characteristic of Gallienus's sole reign, during which earlier elaborate iterations incorporating consulships, tribunician dates, and victory titles were largely abandoned in favor of punchy, easily readable slogans. The reverse carries the legend SECVR TEMPO, an abbreviation of the Latin Securitas Temporum, which translates as the security of the times. The legend forms a circular arc surrounding the central figure of Securitas. In epigraphic style, the Mediolanum mint employed clean, well-spaced Roman capital letters, though individual dies frequently show subtle variations in letter spacing, bar placement on the letter A, and abbreviation stops. The mintmark field on this subtype typically remains uncluttered by supplementary workshop marks or Greek numerals, which became far more prominent in the final phases of Gallienus's reign.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the standard reference corpus compiled by Percy H. Webb in Roman Imperial Coinage Volume V, Part 1, the broader entry for Gallienus 513 encompasses the SECVR TEMPO reverse paired with various obverse portrait configurations. Subtype 1 specifically defines the issue struck with the bare radiate head turned to the right. Within the chronological development of Gallienus's coinage, this Mediolanum series belongs squarely to the middle-to-late sole reign, placed between AD 260 and AD 268. The SECVR TEMPO issue stands alongside related personification types struck at Mediolanum, such as PAX AVG, ORIENS AVG, and LAETITIA AVG, which formed a cohesive thematic framework designed to boost civil and military morale. Modern numismatic studies that track die links and metallurgical composition place the primary run of these issues between AD 262 and AD 266, prior to the final, severely degraded animal series issues produced at Rome and Siscia toward the end of the reign. Subtype 1 remains an important index type for identifying the transitional metallurgical phases of northern Italian billon production.

Circulation, Hoards, and Archaeological Context

Coins of the SECVR TEMPO type circulated extensively throughout Italy, the Alpine valleys, the Danubian provinces, and parts of the western Mediterranean. Because billon radiates under Gallienus were produced in immense quantities, they entered general commerce rapidly through army stipends. Archaeological excavations and coin hoard evidence across Britain, Gaul, and the Balkans reveal that these billon antoniniani were seldom hoarded individually during their initial years of circulation; instead, they accumulated in vast savings masses alongside later radiates struck under Claudius II Gothicus and the Gallic emperors. The extreme base metal content of the coinage meant that once the thin silver surface layer wore off, the public treated these coins as fiat tokens of nominal value rather than reliable bullion stores. Consequently, older Severan and Gordianic radiates were aggressively pulled from circulation and melted, leaving Gallienic issues like RIC 513 to dominate daily marketplace transactions. Today, surviving examples of Subtype 1 are frequently recovered in mixed-origin third-century hoards, often exhibiting varying states of patination, silver wash remnants, and surface corrosion characteristic of base copper-silver alloys buried in acidic European soils.

References

1. Coin Hoards and Hoarding in the Roman Empire. pp. 85-112
2. La crise de la monnaie romaine sous l'Empire: de Postume a Diocletien. pp. 45-68
3. Coining Images of Power: Representations of Mobile and Static Ideology on Roman Imperial Coinage. pp. 215-230
4. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC V Gallienus 513: Subtype 1. ric.5.gall(2).513.1
5. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. V, Part I. pp. 176-177, no. 513