Denarius of Galba

The finder of this coin wished to remain anonymous. He contacted me because he couldn’t trace the type in any of his reference works.

The coin is a denarius of Galba, who was one of the short-lived emperors that grasped power for a short time during the Civil Wars of AD 68-69.  On the obverse is the head of Galba facing right and a legend reading (clockwise) IMP GALBA.  On the reverse the standing figure of Livia holds a patera and a sceptre and is accompanied by a legend reading (anti-clockwise) DIVA AVGV STA.

This type of denarius was struck at a Spanish mint but the exact location is uncertain. It is not amongst the denarii listed in volume I of David Sear’s Roman Coins and Their Values. In Roman Imperial Coins the obverse is number 14 and the reverse number 13 so it is an unusual and very rare die paring.

Valuation

The obverse would grade Fine but its appearance could be improved through expert cleaning. The reverse is better and I’d grade this side as about VF. I’d set a pre-sale auction estimate at £250-300 but the final hammer price would depend on how appealing the coin was to specialist collectors.

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