Antoninianus of Postumus

Rob Warwick described this find as a Roman silver coin. It is 22mm in diameter and certainly Roman but billon (base silver) rather than pure silver.

It is an antoninianus of Postumus, who was a great soldier who rebelled against Gallienus in AD 259 and then ruled over Gaul, Spain and Britain for close to ten years. His ‘silver’ coins were base but not as base as the official coins of Gallienus.

On the obverse is the radiate head of Postumus and a legend reading IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG. On the reverse the figure of Sol advances to the left with one hand raised and the other holding a whip; the legend on this side reads ORIENS AVG. This type was struck at Cologne from AD 265 to 268 and in volume III of David Sear’s Roman Coins and Their Values it is listed as number 10964.    

Valuation

The obverse is sharp and would grade good VF but the reverse isn’t as good. It’s not a rare coin but it’s a nice specimen and should be worth £25-30 to a keen collector.

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