Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XIV 21 Sep 2017
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Probus AV Aureus. Antioch, AD 281-282. IMP C M AVR PROBVS AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust left / CONSERVAT AVG, Sol entering quadriga to left, holding reins in raised right hand, whip in left; VOT X in exergue. RIC -; BMCRE -; C -; Calicó -, cf. 4154a = NFA XXV, 29 November 1990, 461 (bust right). 6.71g, 21mm, 11h.
Extremely Fine, reverse field smoothed behind quadriga. Unique and unpublished.
This unusual aureus bears the formula VOT X on the reverse; while it appears in various similar formats on aurei and antoniniani, it of course cannot refer to the celebration of a Decennalia by Probus, who reigned for only six years. Its employment here therefore is not the usual "vows (prayers) on the tenth anniversary of the emperor's rule" but rather its intended meaning is "vows for his hoped-for tenth anniversary". The almost surreptitious placement of the formula and its variants on the shields of busts and in other obscure places is perhaps indicative of the tenuous and often swiftly fatal nature of the job Probus now found himself in. Probus himself, though aged only forty four at his accession, had lived through the reigns of no fewer than twenty five emperors of whom only two ruled for longer than ten years, nine ruled for less than a year, and none of whom died a peaceful death.
Extremely Fine, reverse field smoothed behind quadriga. Unique and unpublished.
This unusual aureus bears the formula VOT X on the reverse; while it appears in various similar formats on aurei and antoniniani, it of course cannot refer to the celebration of a Decennalia by Probus, who reigned for only six years. Its employment here therefore is not the usual "vows (prayers) on the tenth anniversary of the emperor's rule" but rather its intended meaning is "vows for his hoped-for tenth anniversary". The almost surreptitious placement of the formula and its variants on the shields of busts and in other obscure places is perhaps indicative of the tenuous and often swiftly fatal nature of the job Probus now found himself in. Probus himself, though aged only forty four at his accession, had lived through the reigns of no fewer than twenty five emperors of whom only two ruled for longer than ten years, nine ruled for less than a year, and none of whom died a peaceful death.