| Roma Numismatics Ltd > Auction XXX | Auction date: 21 March 2024 |
| Lot number: 485 Price realized: 13,000 GBP (Approx. 16,468 USD / 15,162 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | Show similar lots on CoinArchives Find similar lots in upcoming auctions on  |
| Lot description: Trebonianus Gallus AV Aureus. Rome, AD 251-253. IMP CAE C VIB TREB GALLVS AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust to right / FELICITAS PVBLICA, Felicitas standing facing, head to left, holding caduceus and sceptre, resting elbow on column. RIC IV 8 var. (bust type); Calicó 3333c (same dies). 3.52g, 20mm, 1h. Mint State. Previously NGC graded MS 5/5 - 4/5 (#6327052-001). Exceedingly Rare; only one known to Calicó, with no others on CoinArchives. Ex Heritage World Coin Auctions, ANA Signature Sale 3101, 25 August 2022, lot 34109 (hammer: USD 13,000). At a time when emperors were hard-pressed to maintain their position of power they were in many ways wholly dependent on the fickle attitudes of their armies. Trebonianus Gallus became emperor with the support of his army after the death of his predecessor Trajan Decius at the Battle of Abritus against the Scythian invaders in Moesia. In his portraiture, most notably on coins and a few sculptures such as the monumental bronze in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Gallus continued the iconographic tradition that was intended to present the emperor as a powerful general who could lead the armies and keep order in the empire. This iconography is characterised by a military style haircut, a short, stubble beard, and a stern, even menacing expression; all of which aspects owe their origins to the mature portrait types of Caracalla. Early in his reign Gallus shared the purple with his predecessor's son Hostilian, who had been Caesar in 251 at the time of his father's death. However, Hostilian died in an outbreak of the plague which struck Rome later that year, leaving the way open for Gallus' son Volusian to be made co-emperor with his father. The co-rulers were unfortunately too inept to deal with the pressures and instabilities that Rome faced, including economic crisis, famine and invasions by the Goths and Persians. It is then perhaps slightly ironic that Felicitas occupies the reserve of this coin, traditionally a symbol of wealth and prosperity, but this reflects the rather hopeful attempt of the co-emperors to maintain their power in part through the use of propaganda. Estimate: 12500 GBP |  |
