Watch List notes:

The Roman Empire

Gallienus joint reign with Valerian I, 253 – 260 and sole reign, 260 – 268. Aureus, Mediolanum (?) 253-260, AV 1.85 g. CONCORDIA AVGG Jugate busts of Gallienus, radiate, draped and cuirassed, and Salonina, diademed and draped; both on crescent. Rev. LAETITIA AVG Laetitia standing l., holding wreath in r. hand and anchor in l. C –. RIC 1 (Aureus and Rome). Mazzini 6 (this coin). Göbl pl. 88, 1125g (this coin). Calicó 3670 (this coin).
Of the highest rarity, only very few specimens known. An issue of tremendous importance
and fascination bearing two lovely portraits of fine style, traces of double-striking
on obverse and minor marks on reverse, otherwise extremely fine
Ex Sotheby's sale 19-20 June 1991, Hunt part IV, 880. From the Mazzini and the George C. Hopkins collections.
This extremely rare gold piece is remarkable and mysterious in many ways. For one thing, its denomination has been a source of uncertainty. Although it is often characterized as a gold quinarius it seems rather light for this denomination and its mint is uncertain, although Mediolanum has been suggested. The obverse features the jugate busts of Gallienus and his wife, the Empress Salonina with the somewhat unexpected legend, CONCORDIA AVGG, rather than the usual imperial titulature. This legend is also known on the obverse of gold medallions of Gallienus and Salonina attributed to the mint of Rome in RIC. It would seem to date the piece to the period of the joint reign of Gallienus and his father (AD 253-260). As is not uncommon on imperial coins of the third century AD, the emperor appears here wearing a radiate crown, thereby comparing him to Sol Invictus, a deity favored by the army and increasingly seen as the patron of emperors. Salonina, as the consort of Gallienus, has her bust set on a crescent to compare her to Luna, the female companion to the sun. The reverse type depicts the personification of Laetitia (Happiness) and the legend LAETITIA AVG. The singular AVG of this inscription stands in stark contrast to the plural AVGG (referring to Gallienus and his father, Valerian I) of the obverse. Here the singular form of the reverse should probably be understood to refer to Salonina, the sole Augusta. The only other LAETITIA AVG type struck under Gallienus appears on antoniniani with the portrait and titulature of Salonina and a parallel for the plural CONCORDIA AVGG obverse with a singular reverse explicitly referring to Salonina can be found in RIC 3 (Gallienus and Salonina). However, the LAETITIA AVG antoninianus type (RIC 17 [Salonina sole reign]) is normally dated to the period of Gallienus' sole reign (AD 260-268), which would seem to be at odds with the joint reign dating of the CONCORDIA AVGG type. To make sense of this, one wonders whether the CONCORDIA AVGG obverse legend should not refer to the Augstus and Augusta depicted there, which would then make possible the dating of both types to the sole reign of Gallienus. We note that on antoniniani featuring the CONCORDIA AVGG legend the two figures shown clasping hands in concord are not Gallienus and Valerian I, but Gallienus and Salonina. This is truly an impressive and fascinating coin worthy of much further study.