Watch List notes:

The Roman Empire

Probus, 276 – 282. Aureus, Lugdunum November-December 276, AV 6.79 g. IMP C M AVR PROBVS AVG Laureate and cuirassed bust r., with drapery on l. shoulder. Rev. HERCVLI ROMANO AVG Hercules standing l. with club and lion skin and placing his r. hand on top of trophy. C 298 var. (also draped). RIC 4. Bastien Lyon, 157 (this obverse die). Calicó 4161.
Very rare. A bold portrait and an interesting reverse composition
well-struck and centred on a full flan. Extremely fine

From a private American collection.
Like many of Probus' coins, the reverse type of this aureus is devoted to Hercules, inviting comparison between the seemingly impossible tasks undertaken and overcome by the famous hero and those surmounted by the emperor. Like the life of Herakles, Probus' reign was full of difficult tasks to overcome.
In AD 278, the emperor and his generals faced and defeated a three-pronged Germanic invasion of the Germanias and Gaul by the Alamanni, Longiones, and the Franks. In AD 279-280, he fought the Vandals in Raetia, Illyricum, and Lycia while his generals defeated an invasion of Egypt by the Blemmyes, a powerful nomadic people from Nubia (modern Sudan). In AD 280-281, Probus faced and put down no less than three separate revolts by Julius Saturninus, Proculus, and Bonosus. Probus was indeed a kind of imperial Hercules, although his record of success was also tempered by some serious losses, like the abandonment of the limes Germanicus and the withdrawal of Roman forces to the Rhine and Danube frontiers.
Also like Hercules, Probus attempted to be a benefactor to his fellow men. Rather than allowing the army to be idle between barbarian invasions and usurpations, the emperor put soldiers to work building bridges and planting crops for the benefit of the provinces where they were stationed. As it turned out, many soldiers enjoyed their former down time and became increasingly annoyed with the public services that Probus required of them. At last, in AD 282, some of the disgruntled troops rebelled and assassinated the emperor.
While the reverse type compares Probus to the greatest hero of the Graeco-Roman world, it also connects him to the Antonine dynasty. The type of Hercules erecting a trophy originally appeared on a coin series struck under Commodus, the last Antonine emperor in AD 191-192. Ironically, it was the excesses of his reign and assassination that kicked off the cycle of civil war that debilitated the Roman Empire through much of the third century, yet Commodus was viewed by many of the military emperors - beginning with Septimius Severus - as a source of legitimacy. Thus, Hercules on this coin is an emblem of Probus' right to rule as a distant successor of Commodus. His association with the Antonine dynasty is further underlined by his use of M. Aurelius - the name of Commodus' father - in his obverse titulature.